Day 440: Brazil to Grenada – 22/03/11

Mike takes the main down during the night and we motor sail for a while just in case the wind picks up suddenly.  However, we have current with us and our speed stays around 7 knots.

After my morning sleep we attempt to tape the little split under the baton.  This means life jackets on (and I hate wearing it as it’s so heavy especially around the neck) and tying myself to the boom.  Mike decides he is more comfortable just bracing himself against the boom which is tied down so hard it can’t move but I much prefer the feeling of security that the life line gives me.

We put sail repair tape over the tear and duct tape over that.  Neither of us really believes that this will work - we just hope it will prevent the tear getting any worse.

When we put the main back up it gives us an extra knot of speed and at times we fly along making 9 knots at times although only for short periods.  Having been left behind for a while, we now overtake the others.

I have been saving a little jar of white truffle cream (the fungus variety not the chocolate) for a special occasion and today decide to use it to make a kind of stroganoff with the remaining fillet steak.  It turns our beautifully.  Yummy.

It turns into a cloudy day and we have to put the engine on to charge the batteries.  While we have all this spare energy, I put a loaf of bread on.  The cloud cover at least makes it a cooler day although it’s a bit on the disgusting side sitting in the cockpit as all the cushions (in fact the whole boat) is covered with salt water and is quite horrible to touch.  I wash my hands every time I come in.  Yuk!  We could do with a really sharp downpour to get rid of all the salt followed by nice smooth seas so that it doesn’t get replaced but it doesn’t seem to happen that way.

 

Our position is:  09 deg 18 min N, 56 deg 28 min W

Distance so far:  23899 nautical miles