Dust bunnies

We're sailing speedily along under a rastafari-colored spinnaker which makes the mood a little more festive. That, and the weather has been beautiful. There has been so much sun that we put up the bimini for shade. The bimini makes being in the cockpit much nicer and I no longer feel like hiding out below when off-watch to get away from the sun.

The boat is showing evidence of the long trip. The cockpit cushions are smeared with sunscreen, little marine dust bunnies of hair and lint have collected in the corners of the cockpit, and the grab rails have the slightly tacky/slimy feeling of handrails on the New York subway.

There are a few luxuries on the boat--luxuries, at least by sailboat standards: refrigeration, a watermaker, and email via shortwave radio. Still, because of their high power consumption, they must be used sparingly. Showers are taken only when necessary ("necessary" has its own standard here too) and consist of pouring about a gallon of water over your head while sitting on the toilet. Still, it's a welcome treat considering the alternative. The freezer is great because we can keep frozen meats through the entire trip, however it too must be used carefully. It's small and we open it as little as possible in order to keep the cold in. Every so often we indulge by using it to chill a beer or water bottle.

Yesterday we caught a small dorado, maybe seven pounds. It was the perfect size for the five of us and made for a festive dinner with a battle of white wine and mashed potatoes. We haven't fished much lately since slowing the boat to land a fish is quite a hassle with the spinnaker up.








Captain Phil is re-working our arrival estimates, trying to shave time off the original estimates by shaving distance off our L-shaped route and increasing our predicted speed based on the latest wind forecast. We make five knots under motor, a knot and a half less than his predicted average speed, but we should be able to keep close to his estimates as long as we have wind. We're doing well so far--the boat sails better than it motors and the rasta-spinnaker is pulling us along at a brisk 7.5 knots.


-Jared