In the last 24hours we have sailed 147M - a respectable run for a 39 foot cruising boat loaded down as we are. We have now added the mainsail to the setup - 3 reefs for much of the night and 2 reefs now plus the genoa poled out and the little storm jib as a staysail in-between. The swell is 1-2M with a wind speed of 15K. Eye Candy loves the lighter conditions and we are now having a very comfortable ride. The moon comes out early and stays with us until about 5am. The night wind is pleasantly warm and the sea temperature is 24.7 degrees. Today is overcast but we are wearing shorts and T-shirts.
The highlight of the day - Andrew caught 2 magnificent Mahi Mahi. So the score is 4 flying fish plus 3 eating fish. So last night we had baked fish and oriental noodle salad for dinner and tonight we will have sweet and sour fish with rice. We have now mastered fish slaughtering and minimized the blood in the cockpit - goodbye Dexter.
We have decided to drop the 'Mini disaster of the day' report in case we are tempting fate. Instead we will have the new topic (started yesterday) 'background information'
Today's background information is 'other boats on the passage'.
Our cruising buddies 'Balvenie' and 'Tactical Directions' left Mindelo on Monday 27th December. Had we not been waiting for Bronwyn we would have gone with them. We ended up leaving a full week later on Monday 2nd January. We keep daily contact by radio so we know where we all are.
'Balvenie' and 'Tactical' have experienced days of really tough going with confused seas and large swell. 'Balvenie' got hit by a huge wave pushing her down a wave sideways. Their cockpit was saved by having the clears down on the weather side. However inside the cabin, everything not secured down at the time including the bread maker went into orbit.
'Tactical Directions' which is being single handed had one of it's his hulls lifted to the point where Tony reported that "He thought he was a goner"
One other 'Ventana' reported being rolled down and gallons of water pouring into the open galley hatch.
Another reported a tin of flour flying across the cabin and the lid coming off; could you imagine the mess - pancakes on every surface for the next week.
So as you can imagine, we are glad to have Bronwyn with us and very grateful we had to wait in Mindelo for her arrival. Thank you Lord.
Love Candy xx
At 3:39 PM5/01/2012 (utc) our position was 15°20.42'N 032°19.18'W
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