Day 3: Wednesday 2/6/2013
Today should be titled “can’t they ever get a forecast right”. First the winds: the wind did calm to <10 kts, even got as low as 7-8 kts, and changed to ESE (100-120 deg)…..very beamy….and then instead of calming further to 4-6 kts and clocking to SE-S-SW as every forecast said, it stayed the SAME……arghhhhhh….and to just aggravate us some more the winds grew to 12-15 kts for most of the afternoon and early evening before calming to 8-12 kts after 10 pm……all beamy….which means very rolly…as in uncomfortable!!!
The seas became 2-4’ short period wind chop with the occasional big swell of something larger…..jeez….seems like we have not left the uncomfortable Caribbean after all.
So on top of an uncomfortable rolly ride then there is the current. It was predicted for us to lose this marvelous favorable current and become neutral to adverse. So, why do you care and most importantly, what is wrong with me to whine about a 1-2 kt favorable current???? Well, as it stands right now we will cross the Equator and enter the anchorage at NIGHT….double ugh ugh!!!!
So, we either need to speed up or slow down…..not possible to speed up enough so have to slow down…..ok, so, why the whine…..well, when you slow down the stabilizers are not as effective in this BEAMY sea…..so the ride becomes even more uncomfortable……arghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!
Yes, I guess I’m a little cranky…..many ughs and arghhhhhhhhhs!!!!!
As I am writing this on my watch at about 3:00 am, we are still predicted to get to the Equator at dark…..during Kathy’s watch the current picked up some more. So, I slowed down even more…..@ 1100 rpm and still doing 7.5 kts…..like a 2 kt favorable current….so, I’ve turned more to the south to try to slow even more and making the ride even more beamy…..
OK…that didn’t work….so I tired going due south….180 deg….whoa…better ride this time….oh, and if we speed up to 8.3 kts (1450 rpm) we can make the Equator by sunset today…..Hello Neptune…..so case solved for now….we get to speed up for a better ride and we get to cross the Equator in daylight!!!!!
The bad news – it adds ~60 nm to the passage – oh well, sort of like a big tack :))))
Thursday 2/7 7:00 EST or 1200 UTC (70.5 hours):
Position: N 1 28 W 84 48
Traveled: 580 nm; 370 nm to go – ETA to the Equator is 5:30 pm today (0 00 N by 85 00 W), ETA to San Cristobal Galapagos still Saturday morning 2/9
Speed: Current speed is 8.7 SOG (1450 rpm), avg SOG is 8.2 kts, boat speed is 7.5 kts @ 1450 rpm and favorable current is still 0.9 – 1.0 kts….
Boat Sightings: zero for last 51 hours
Winds: finally calmed to predicted 3-5 kts but still E-ENE
Waves: like glass; you should see the smiles on MM, maybe a 2-3” SW swell, maybe 5-8 sec…..we just ride up and down gently – maybe short period is leftover from a squall that was causing all the unpredicted winds…..who knows!!!!
Fishing: no catching :((((; would have been hard to land in seas anyway; one did spool the big reel for about a minute then bit off the lure – whaaaaa…..that was the hot red/white cedar plug and I have no more….tried a blue/white plug and saw a huge fish go after it….not sure what it was but it had a big dorsal fin…..then later on a big hit on other pole…..saw a sailfish jump 3-4 times then shook it off….fun!!!!!
Fuel burn: 2.25 nmpg – that’s a 0.5 nmpg gain from the favorable current….luv it :))))
I feel your pain. I say go for the better ride. Conditions will change and so will your course. The equator at sunrise. Kewl, even us crack of nooners would have to get up for that. Is this the longest stretch to the marquezas? Are you in contact with anyone on the ssb? Is the puddle jump net active?