Day 19, Sunday, April 25, 2010
UTC/Local 0000 Monday, April 26/ 1700, Sunday, April 25
Latitude: 04 49.647 N
Longitude: 126 43.803 W
Conditions:
After a long, slow night, Worrall Wind is motor-sailing. I guess you can call it that even though we are doing far more motoring than sailing. There is less than 5 knots of wind. As the sun was setting last night, the wind died. We were making some forward progress of less than 1 knot. We had previously agreed that if the boat speed dropped below 4 knots we start up the engine. However, Russ wanted to monitor engine given our earlier problems and needed some rest before his late watch shift. So we postponed firing up Lehman "the engine", until dawn, when everyone would be up to hold watch and he could spend whatever time would be necessary to monitor engine.
In the meantime, we bobbed like a little cork in the ocean all night except for dodging a squall at 1:00 a.m.. Around 6:00 a.m. a wind sprang up from due southwest the direction we wanted to travel. We had a choice of tacking close either toward the northwest or the southeast. We chose the northwest and did that until the sun came up for about an hour (we still haven't turned the clock back yet). Just thought I would mention this strange tactic since it sure to show up on Spot as some weird track.
Russ went into the engine room to open the thru hulls for the exhaust and engine just before 7:00 a.m. As he slid across the top of the engine box to throw the levers (always in the most inconvenient locations) a huge 2 inch wooden sliver embedded itself in Russ's left knee. He came out of the engine room and quickly fired up Lehman so that no water would come in the exhaust pipe. We held our breath!
The Lehman turned over and started to hum. We exhaled with relief. Then it was time to remove the splinter. Russ used a pair of pliers to grip the sucker. The first pull didn't work. The second pull worked and this two inch, 1/8 of inch monster came out. I nearly fainted. Russ said the splinter was horizontal not perpendicular which means it wasn't deep. We bathed the puncture wound in hydrogen peroxide and tried to squeeze out the nearly bloodless wound as much as possible. Then we put on antibiotic ointment, and he took a Cipro to prevent any infection. He'll stay on a course of that for a couple of days. He is trying to keep his leg elevated and stay out of the sun (Cipro reaction). Dr. Abby?....any further advice?
My right knee started to swell up the first week out. There is no pain associated with the swelling, but it became twice the size of my other knee and started to drain into the lower part of my leg making the entire leg, ankle, and foot swollen. The tightness has made it difficult to kneel down and get on my knees. I've been taking some non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and have been trying to keep my leg elevated as well. I am happy to report that it is "looking" much better today. Russ and I are quite a pair with our legs elevated.
The seas are now coming from two predominant directions in the this latitude, southwest and northeast, making for large rollers under the boat which we either dive into or surf down. Garyn and Russ negotiated a fairly large squall last night around 1:00 a.m. which gave us the best 15-20 knot winds all day. Apparently we rode the outside edge for nearly an hour. I was sleeping and awoke briefly as Garyn came into the back stateroom with his head lamp and shut the portholes.
Thank you Marcia and Dave, and radio guru Mike for your advice regarding radio reception. We turned off everything before the net last night. The reception was sooooo much better. Our laptop computer seems to be the worst offender. We were able to connect with Puddle Jump net and for the first time the Sea Farer's Net. We were particularly interested in getting an update from one of our Puddle Jump Fleet, Sea Flyer, a Choy Lee offshore 38. They had rigging failure a couple of days ago. Their chain plate broke and shrouds came loose. They could actually see their mast lifting off the deck. SCAREY! We are within 200 miles of them and wanted to offer some assistance. We had heard that they were motoring and would need more fuel to get to the Marquesas. We also have some rigging supplies. However, we weren't sure exactly what we could offer without putting both of our boats in jeopardy given the large swells. We hadn't been able to hear them very well. Last night we had a clear copy on them.
Turns out that Sea Flyer hailed the Coast Guard, who arranged for a passing tanker to drop some fuel for them. About midnight on April 23, this large tanker stopped near them. They had to motor up to the tanker. The large swells kept bumping them against the hull of the tanker (either bound for Cuba or Cuban registered), doing some minor damage to their solar panels. Since this became too dangerous, Sea Flyer backed away from the tanker. The vessel's captain, then lashed 10 gerry cans of diesel to a line and dropped them into the water. Sea Flyer recovered the floating line and jugs with their boat hook, and now have some additional fuel to help them on their passage. They are not sure if it will be enough, but there are a couple of boats close by in the event they need some additional assistance. We are 200 miles away on latitude 126 and Windryder is about 25 miles from Sea Flyer on latitude 129.
One of our vicarious sailors asked for a recap of some of the terms we are using. Genny is our gennaker (an asymmetrical spinnaker that flys like a kite off our bow). Genny works best between a beam and a broad reach. A beam reach is when the wind is coming 90 degrees (right angle perpendicular to the side of the boat). A broad reach is when the wind is coming 91 -120 degrees off the side of the boat, slightly behind the beam on the stern quarter. Genny got a wrap when a wave dipped us down and turned the boat in such a way that the wind was coming well beyond 120 degrees right over the stern quarter.
Hydie is our Hydrovane, wind steering system that keeps our boat on a particular course or reach based on the angle of the wind. Hydie is basically a wind driven auto pilot, but she takes no electrical energy. Today, we are relying on Ray, our borrowed Raymarine auto pilot from Freezing Rain, that works with our motor to steer our course. Ray and Lehman are a dynamic duo. Just as Hydie and Genny are.
It's time for lunch. I sat on the bow earlier this morning and have so much salt on my skin from sea spray, that a margarita would taste mighty fine. I'm just wishing.
5:00 p.m. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing dominoes. Garyn who drew five hands without a start piece turned out to be the winner. He just washed his sheets and they are hanging on the jib lines. They are clamped on but he is still holding one edge so it doesn't flap off. The boat under power is making its own wind on the foredeck. I don't know how dry they are going to get. Russ has had a shirt hung up for two days and it's still damp. The humidity is about 80%. There are no white caps or wind ripples on the undulating sea which means we will continue to motor probably throughout the night until we get some wind. It could be a couple of days. With the engine running, we've just about filled up the water tank with our water maker and are generating enough power to watch a movie this evening. Yeah! Popcorn and cola coming up. I'm on early watch, Garyn's on late watch, and Russ has the night off. He's even thinking of having a beer!
Just a gentle reminder, if you must forward us information or want to reply to an update, please remember to delete all unimportant information and delete our update so that it doesn't come back to us and eat up our sailmail time. Thank you for understanding and helping us out.
All is well on Worrall Wind.
