The forecast was for 7-12 kts of wind today and sadly it was spot on – we’d had a good night sailing with the main and genny poled out but the wind dropped during the morning. A clear day with a stunning sunrise – Robert was on the 6-9am watch and took some great photos, one of which features in today’s blog and appears below. There has been a significant degree of cloud cover over the past few days so good to see blue skies for the early part of the morning.
Pretty much on the rhumb line to St Lucia – 1881 miles to go. Smooth sea state and good visibility. Fish and chips for supper but sadly the fish came from the fridge by way of El Corte Ingles in Las Palmas rather than the ocean. Fishing skills sadly lacking after beginner’s luck struck with the tuna last week! But the line goes out every afternoon at 4pm which we were told by the fishing guru in Las P is the bewitching hour when the fish get hungry – maybe they just don’t fancy a pink and white plastic squid with big eyes which was today’s lure of the day.....
Water for washing, cooking and drinking is obviously an issue on a long passage and Boni Venti is fitted with a water maker that takes in sea water, forces it through a 10 micron filter, then a 5 micron filter and finally a ceramic filter to extract the salinity. The resulting water is good enough to drink but we mainly use it for cooking and washing. We filled Boni Venti’s three water tanks in Las Palmas but are not planning on using that water until later in the crossing – it’s being held in reserve in case we have a problem with the water maker (which touch wood is running fine). We also have 120 x 1.5litre bottles of still water for drinking stored under the floorboards, together with 36 x 1.5 l bottles of fizzy. So there is indeed water, water everywhere, and we will have enough to drink!
Wind dropped to 6-8 kts towards the end of the day so at 20.30 we put the engine on and are now heading on a bearing 285 degs at 7 kts. Another slow day forecast for tomorrow before the wind picks up mid-week.
All the best
Jonathan.
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