Weather: SUNSHINE AT LAST! Not a cloud in the sky. After so many overcast days, we celebrated with a solar shower... still not hot enough for me (fine for Kyle) but we smell better. Yesterday was frustratingly slow, and in one particular 3 hour period we only moved (through the water) 1/4nm.
General Comments: We spent yesterday keeping South of a line - the line indicating June max mean iceberg limit on our Pilot Chart (the Pilot Charts show average wind and sea conditions and other related issues over 100s of years of observation for each month of the year).. Even so, we were keeping a good lookout for possible Icebergs. We are also using the June chart to plot our course as we move towards Ireland. The little orange highlights now stretch over a 1/3 of the way.
Given the boat wasn't moving fast for most of yesterday, we took some time for some additional reading and things. We read our Ireland guides and now have a good idea of what things we might want to do as tourists once we get there. I wanted to try to fish, but doubted there would be anything to catch. During my 5pm rig check however I found 2 fish (a small, 12" black thing, and a 18" parrot fish?!!!) hanging out (swimming) in the boat's shadow. I was quite surprised; Parrot fish are normally considered dangerous to eat as they are toxic, but away from the reefs in the open ocean, that is not the case (so I read)... Hmm easy catch, but Kyle, having seen the the fish, now considered them wards of Footprint, - almost pets - and would not consider any attempt to catch them and eat them. Oh well, we have plenty of other food aboard.
We were visited again by Dolphins; for what appears to be an empty ocean there sure are plenty of dolphins. They visited at sunset last night and again at sunrise this morning. Kyle suspects they are the same pod, watching over us (he is such a romantic). When they came yesterday, we were hardly moving through the water and could have been no fun for them (our bow wave was not going to allow them to surf), but they played up there anyway as if to say "come on, get a move on, this way". Today the boat is moving again and they were much impressed with our progress, and enjoyed the bow waves - they streaked back and forth, zigzagging, across the bows.
This morning we found 4" of water in our forward starboard "buoyancy" tank, and pumped it out (around 9 gallons). The port one is dry, but we'll need to keep an eye on the stb one and source the leak once we are back to land. This is the first time we've ever had water in this particular tank.
The good news is that our email send/receive yesterday was back down to 6-7 minutes, rather than the 14-20 it has been taking... since we budget 10 minutes a day this is a huge relief. I'd assumed we had a weaker satellite signal out at sea and had been grumbling about Iridium, but it turns out it was simply SKYPE on my computer competing for internet access.
Food: With the lack of progress, we decided a treat was in order and had a big fry up for Breakfast, a light snack for lunch and then pasta (can sauce) for Dinner - all basic stuff. I also made yogurt yesterday and so we had yogurt layered with fresh kiwi fruit and granola for desert (sweetened with Bermuda honey) - Yummy.
Progress: Yesterday we made 73 nm, So far on this trip we have traveled (through the water) 1080 nm, and have 1673 nm (straight line) to go.
General Comments: We spent yesterday keeping South of a line - the line indicating June max mean iceberg limit on our Pilot Chart (the Pilot Charts show average wind and sea conditions and other related issues over 100s of years of observation for each month of the year).. Even so, we were keeping a good lookout for possible Icebergs. We are also using the June chart to plot our course as we move towards Ireland. The little orange highlights now stretch over a 1/3 of the way.
Given the boat wasn't moving fast for most of yesterday, we took some time for some additional reading and things. We read our Ireland guides and now have a good idea of what things we might want to do as tourists once we get there. I wanted to try to fish, but doubted there would be anything to catch. During my 5pm rig check however I found 2 fish (a small, 12" black thing, and a 18" parrot fish?!!!) hanging out (swimming) in the boat's shadow. I was quite surprised; Parrot fish are normally considered dangerous to eat as they are toxic, but away from the reefs in the open ocean, that is not the case (so I read)... Hmm easy catch, but Kyle, having seen the the fish, now considered them wards of Footprint, - almost pets - and would not consider any attempt to catch them and eat them. Oh well, we have plenty of other food aboard.
We were visited again by Dolphins; for what appears to be an empty ocean there sure are plenty of dolphins. They visited at sunset last night and again at sunrise this morning. Kyle suspects they are the same pod, watching over us (he is such a romantic). When they came yesterday, we were hardly moving through the water and could have been no fun for them (our bow wave was not going to allow them to surf), but they played up there anyway as if to say "come on, get a move on, this way". Today the boat is moving again and they were much impressed with our progress, and enjoyed the bow waves - they streaked back and forth, zigzagging, across the bows.
This morning we found 4" of water in our forward starboard "buoyancy" tank, and pumped it out (around 9 gallons). The port one is dry, but we'll need to keep an eye on the stb one and source the leak once we are back to land. This is the first time we've ever had water in this particular tank.
The good news is that our email send/receive yesterday was back down to 6-7 minutes, rather than the 14-20 it has been taking... since we budget 10 minutes a day this is a huge relief. I'd assumed we had a weaker satellite signal out at sea and had been grumbling about Iridium, but it turns out it was simply SKYPE on my computer competing for internet access.
Food: With the lack of progress, we decided a treat was in order and had a big fry up for Breakfast, a light snack for lunch and then pasta (can sauce) for Dinner - all basic stuff. I also made yogurt yesterday and so we had yogurt layered with fresh kiwi fruit and granola for desert (sweetened with Bermuda honey) - Yummy.
Progress: Yesterday we made 73 nm, So far on this trip we have traveled (through the water) 1080 nm, and have 1673 nm (straight line) to go.
1 comment:
Well the dolphins out there certainly aren't starving, and may make a quick meal out of your new "pets". The secret to fishing is to keep your pole in the water. I deploy my fishing rod as a matter of course, and is as part of my cruising routine as raising anchor and checking that my centerboards are down.
I'm at the boat for a few days and may even leave the marina tomorrow for a little adventure and a couple nights at anchor. Not nearly as exciting as your adventure.
Scott
Gemini Catamaran Split Decision
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