Hi from Clare, Tuesday 12th May
It is day 4 of our trip and all is well on Eye Candy. We are running with three hour shifts and have adjusted to the new routine; we now sleep as soon as we put our head on the pillow. We have had a few rain squalls but basically the weather is pleasant with sunny days and warm nights. The first 36 hours was bumpy with choppy conditions; not very comfortable. However we are now experiencing longer intervals between the 2-3 metre swell on our beam. When we left the Galapagos we were at 0 degrees, we are heading south west to 6degreesS and 100degreesW before we turn west. We should be there tomorrow afternoon and once we turn west the waves will be more behind us and even more comfortable; we hope:)
The highlight of the trip so far is that we heard Andrew's Dad, Charles in Hobart on the Ham Radio a few nights ago. We had checked in our position with net control on The Pacific Seafarers Net and then later we head Charles talking to net control. We couldn't quite hear what he was saying but nevertheless it was a thrill to know he was there. It's a bit like seeing the Southern Cross every night, that's a thrill too.
The lowlight of the trip is that we haven't caught any fish. We have hooked three but they have all got away; the first one took our lure and a lot of line. Don't these silly fish know we are looking for some protein; still it is only day four.
Hi from Andrew,
Just a few details. We departed Isabella Island on Saturday 9th May and it is now Tuesday afternoon (12th May). So far we have sailed 526 miles in the 76 hours for an average of 6.9 knots or about 165 miles per day. Our course is taking us to a point 6S and 100W to get down to the reliable SE trade winds and favourable currents but the winds seem pretty reliable to date. We have sailed the whole way so far but some yachts ahead of us have motored for 3 days south to get good wind. Once there we will turn westwards along 6S towards the Marquesas. The whole journey will be 3000 miles and take about 3 weeks.
So far we have been able to manage on our solar panels alone for power, not having to use diesel for charging.
At the moment we have 15 to18 knots from the SE and 2 to 3m swells. The sailplan is Main 3 reefs and genoa about 40%. this is plenty when the wind gets up to 20 knots and enough to keep us moving in the lulls. The small main helps reduce the slewing around in the lumpy seas. The autopilot has steered us all the way making live very easy on watch. Lets hope it all keeps going well.
Love Candy xx
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