18’32.7N 034’12.0W course 336′ speed 5,9kn
Just before lunch we shook out the reef of the main. The speed had gone down, although the waves still seemed to indicate wind, the feeling was that wind had decreased in the morning with about 4 knots. And so with a stable looking sky and enough crew on deck during the day to be able to lower the main quickly, we felt confident that we could get the speed up without the reef. And we did! Winds stayed around 14 to 16 knots and so the second jib and a reef in the mizzen are still very comfortable, but a full main, just gets us through the waves so much easier!
We are nearly passing underneath the sun today. The declination of the sun was around 17’51N and we were at 17’34 during the Meridian Passage. We have been working on the tropic calculations, and its been fun. Today we nearly got it right.. except for a miss communication when saying 30 seconds till stop time… the person with the c thought they should stop.. and so too early our third EP circle was completely off! Still it was good practice. One more shot tomorrow and then hopefully we will be out of these calculations, because that would mean we are making good progress North.
Tonight we have the privilage of sailing under a bright lit starry night. No moon and so loads of stars come out. The Milky way is clearly visible and its easy to steer with star just in front! Its easy to steer anyway. She is light on the helm, just some pesky waves that rock us around.
We cleaned out the hallway bilge this afternoon. We cleaned out the garbage boxes as they were getting smelly. We had the fire hose out, but strangely (!) nobody felt the urge to get their swimgear on and take a salt water shower!
And so, all is well on board, Jet
