Saturday, April 1 2017, 1500 Hrs
17 00 N, 61 46 W, Nelsons Dockyard, English Harbour. Customs and immigration sorted for now. A good crossing and will update when able over the next few days. Thank you Simon, Mia and Pawel!
Next leg will see me drafting a complaint to the telecomunications ombudsman, Bloody Telstra just stole $260 from my pre-paid account so fortunately there is a free wifi not too far away. Have been useing this modem travelling for years and instead of useing the additional international roaming pack (still intact) it used Australian data, don’t think i’m not P&$@)d off.
Wednesday, 29 March 2017 0900 Hrs
17 24 N, 55 45 W, Now Jusy 350 Nm to go to English Harbour, Antigua. Note the time change as we are now on -3 Hrs UTC on board. Currently with light SE winds now, for the first time since leaving Cape Verde we have the full sails up as the wind angle now allows us to. Acording to the weatherman this will drop out completely tomorrow so will be back under engine for the duration of the trip from then. (motored most of last night) Its a shame as we have only needed the generator to charge the batteries for the last 2 weeks saving a fortune on fuel. I was hoping not to top up again until Panama but will see once we arrive. All well and looking forward to our favorite foods if available when we land.
Sunday, 26 March 2017 1000 Hrs
17 32 N, 49 58 W. Under 700 Nm to go so we are past 2/3 rds of the way across the Atlantic now. Thanks Duane for all the weather updates, so yes a little bit light and directly behind but its very comfortable on board. I will see what I can find to rig up on the head-sail for the Pacific crossing. Murphy for sure will have it dead downwind making it difficult to run both sails (not really a bad thing safety wise but another knot or 2 would be an advantage). All well on board with supplies holding out well.
Thanks also Diana, yes the first Pod of Dolphins this leg showed up some 12 hours after your message predicting them. How did you know?
Thursday, 23 March 2017, 1000 Hrs
17 42 N, 43 31 W, We are now just over half way across the Atlantic. All going well, the first water tank has some amount of water remaining and we are still on the first of 3 gas bottles, so provided we continue being frugal there should be no issues with supplies. (food and diesel are still well stocked)
Wednesday, 22 March, 1000 Hrs
17 44 N, 41 08 W, Note Time change as we have put the clocks back one hour. Almost half way now should be some time on Thursday The wind is lightening off a little, thanks for your updates Duane all as forecast. Yes the hull will be due for a scrub in Port, at least the water will be warm and clean whilst anchored waiting for clearance.
Monday, 20 March 2017, 1100 Hrs
17 31 N, 36 37 W, Not quite one third of the way there yet. The good news is (touch wood) there should be enough gas for the duration. Hopefully we can make another 5 days without switching over the water tanks. Not wanting to sound like a “Nag” can be quite difficult when the scenery, sailing conditions and general day to day routines don’t change on a three week passage. Oh well I guess for now its “shut the bloody fridge”, “put the plug in the sink and wash all the dishes” and “don’t boil the FULL kettle”.
Sunday, 19 March, 1100 Hrs
17 58 N, 34 20 W, As the weather man keeps telling me ENE at 15-20 Kts. Finally however we are starting to get some blue skies and a good sunset. Its been very overcast and grey since leaving port so its great to see the sun. May get to see if the solar Panels work and reduce our charging hours.
Saturday, 18 March 2017, 1100 Hrs
17 09 N, 32 15 W, A little slower the last 24 Hrs as the wind has dropped slightly. A curious thing seems to be happening with our chartplotter as its log reading is less than distance actually travelled. Diana picked it up on the last leg and despite travelling in a straight line the log reads 95 Nm in the last 24 hrs when via the chart we have actually travelled overground 145 Nm. This can’t be current (yesterday would be 4kts if so) as we have no physical log in place and therefore should only be able to measure distance and speed over the ground. Anyway speaking of DIANA a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY ! I have no idea why you would want to spend it at home alone when you could be here with all your friends on board “Wind Sprite”
Friday, 17 March 2017, 1100 Hrs
16 58 N, 29 48 W, Just over 300 N from Mindelo so averaging over 6 kts currently. Forecast is more of the same trade winds (NE 20 Kts) for the next week or more hopefully. Its been quite overcast since leaving but thats probably a good thing keeping the temperature down. Anyway its only been 2 days so no signs of Cabin fever yet but early days of course. Will update in another 3 days.
Wednesday, 15 March 2017, 0700 Hrs
Leaving Cape Verde, Last minute filling tanks and grabbing some “Emergency Provisions” in case of delays or Fridge / gas issues underway. Made it a full day yesterday so leaving now at first light. Updates again in a couple of days.