Bovered?
My First Visit to Colombia
March 25th
Having completed my watch at midnight last night, I was enjoying resting in my bunk when I was awakened and brought into the cockpit at 0530 to admire how someone had managed to keep the boat sailing at a steady 5 knots despite the wind steadily dropping off. I won’t bore you with the details but you can do it at the expense of not maintaining the same direction. I tried to look impressed but suspect I didn’t do a great job of that. Anyhow, I got to see a very impressive sunrise for my troubles as you can see in the photo.
If you don’t skedaddle off back to your bunk other stuff starts happening that you get dragged into. The next watch came up to a ‘no wind’ situation. It is uncomfortable lying there wallowing in the swell with the sails banging and going nowhere. This started a long debate about what to do. First, I helped define an appropriate weather forecast request which we sent off and received back. The idea was to try to organise our course where we would benefit from the best wind. The plain truth was there was not enough wind to sail but that didn’t stop a couple of futile attempts and a few red herrings about wind and current. About 10.30 we got a tiny bit of wind which would allow us to sail with the wind directly behind us, albeit not precisely in the direction we wanted to go. To do this required putting long poles out each side of the boat and connecting two separate headsails to each side. As long as you keep the boat aligned directly in line with the wind then you can sail and make slow progress in very light winds. It was a problem repeated from the first time we tried it, that there are far too many chiefs and not enough indians when it comes to these jobs. I counted three separate times when I pointed out that something was not quite right and was either overruled or ignored. Not being skipper, and unlike me, I bit my tongue and watched interestedly until someone else spotted the mistake and corrected the overruling party. All very frustrating and wasteful of a lot of time. While all this was going on, an inquisitive turtle popped his head up about 10 yards from the boat to check us out before going on his merry way. We have also had several other visitations from diffent species of dolphins. We got there however, and we are now happily bowling along at 6 knots in an 11 knot following wind. The boat looks lovely with the twin sails up but the attached photo can’t do it justice because I can’t get far enough away to get everything into the picture.
So just as I am happily about to slink off for a while the generator dies! This is an electric boat with electric winches, lots of sailing instruments, fridge, freezer several computers etc etc. whilst generator failure is not the end of the world, it is an annoyance especially considering that we waited about three days in Panama to have the thing serviced. We think we know what is wrong with it but can’t do any further investigations until the whole thing cools down. We are about 3 degrees north of the Equator and it is approaching a steady 30 degrees day and night. So for now, fixing the generator and finding a way we can sail through the doldrums are the two tasks in hand. I have abandoned fishing because it is a bit complicated to stop the boat with this sail configuration and I don’t fancy trying to drag a tuna, wahoo or marlin in doing 6 knots in the opposite direction to an angry fish.
Little Things Are Sent To Try Us
March 26th
We have made very good progress since setting off. Today is no exception. I have been happily sunning myself at the stern with my daily beer ration and watching my fishing line as you can see in the photo. There is a very shallow patch ahead ( meaning it comes up from 4000 meters deep to only 1000 meters deep) and we are hopeful of finding fish there. If not there, then we are transiting past a lonely lump of rock called Malpelo island owned by Colombia. Based on various other blogs that I have read, it pays to let the Colombians know who you are and that you are in their neighbourhood. Others who have not done that, have been chased at night by Colombian Navy boats with no lights on which is a bit scary if you are up there alone on night watch. The island is very impressive. The bit you an see in the photo rises about 845 feet above sea level, but the whole thing is a 13000 foot high mountain rising from the sea bed. Bigger than Mont Blanc in the alps. Imagine what is under the water when you look at the photo. One big surprise about it was that it is incorrectly charted by at least a couple of miles. I have a different GPS and chart from the one on the boat. We transitted the island at least 1.5 miles offshore to the south and west. Both GPS’s showed us sailing right through the middle of the rock! Don’t rely solely on even two independent charts and GPS’s, always find an other independent way to check. Yesterday we did it visually. At night you would have to use the radar or stay away till daylight.
The other great thing that I am appreciating right now is the investment in he satellite phone. It is really great to just dial and speak to Sarah and family. As I write this we have another 500 miles to go to get to the Galapagos which will take at least another 4 days. Having the phone stops you from thinking that you are in the middle of nowhere, even when you are!
I have probably said so before but the stars are stunning when you are on night watch. I am getting much better at orientating myself by identifying the major constellations and working out where north south east and west must be by that. My previous post was garbage, you can see the plough, it is just upside down, with the North star below it close to the horizon. The seafarers of old did that before compasses and sextants were invented. I have stopped short of trying astro navigation on this trip.
An Altogether Happier Boat
March 27th
Hi all. The generator was repaired late last night. There is a little gizmo inside called an impeller. It looks like the wheel on a water mill and it pushes cold sea water around to cool things. It was replaced 10 days ago in Panama and had fallen to bits causing the generator to overheat and cut out. It should have lasted about a year . Fortunately we have several spares for it. The other happy news was that our attempts to get the sails up correctly today were much smoother and as a result we have made a much better mileage. We plan on about 120 miles every 24 hours. As I write, we have approximately 350 nautical miles left to run to the anchorage in the Galapagos. We need to speed up a bit. That is about 3 days and it just got dark so we want to get in while it is light , otherwise we hang about offshore until first light.
The third piece of really good news today was that we got the water maker going , again after a couple of teething problems. We had gotten down to 580 litres from a thousand when we set off. Running it today for two hours created 90 litres so in a few days we should be back up to nearly a full tank and more normal washing can resume. The temperature today was 33C in the shade. Without the sailing breeze it is very uncomfortable. I managed to get mildly sunburnt a couple of days ago so was wearing long pants and a long sleeved shirt all of today. The winds are really light force 3 or 4 at best. The sea is calm and there are virtually no other boats around. We have seen 4 since leaving . The Pacific Ocean is a very big place.
More later….
March 25th
Having completed my watch at midnight last night, I was enjoying resting in my bunk when I was awakened and brought into the cockpit at 0530 to admire how someone had managed to keep the boat sailing at a steady 5 knots despite the wind steadily dropping off. I won’t bore you with the details but you can do it at the expense of not maintaining the same direction. I tried to look impressed but suspect I didn’t do a great job of that. Anyhow, I got to see a very impressive sunrise for my troubles as you can see in the photo.
If you don’t skedaddle off back to your bunk other stuff starts happening that you get dragged into. The next watch came up to a ‘no wind’ situation. It is uncomfortable lying there wallowing in the swell with the sails banging and going nowhere. This started a long debate about what to do. First, I helped define an appropriate weather forecast request which we sent off and received back. The idea was to try to organise our course where we would benefit from the best wind. The plain truth was there was not enough wind to sail but that didn’t stop a couple of futile attempts and a few red herrings about wind and current. About 10.30 we got a tiny bit of wind which would allow us to sail with the wind directly behind us, albeit not precisely in the direction we wanted to go. To do this required putting long poles out each side of the boat and connecting two separate headsails to each side. As long as you keep the boat aligned directly in line with the wind then you can sail and make slow progress in very light winds. It was a problem repeated from the first time we tried it, that there are far too many chiefs and not enough indians when it comes to these jobs. I counted three separate times when I pointed out that something was not quite right and was either overruled or ignored. Not being skipper, and unlike me, I bit my tongue and watched interestedly until someone else spotted the mistake and corrected the overruling party. All very frustrating and wasteful of a lot of time. While all this was going on, an inquisitive turtle popped his head up about 10 yards from the boat to check us out before going on his merry way. We have also had several other visitations from diffent species of dolphins. We got there however, and we are now happily bowling along at 6 knots in an 11 knot following wind. The boat looks lovely with the twin sails up but the attached photo can’t do it justice because I can’t get far enough away to get everything into the picture.
So just as I am happily about to slink off for a while the generator dies! This is an electric boat with electric winches, lots of sailing instruments, fridge, freezer several computers etc etc. whilst generator failure is not the end of the world, it is an annoyance especially considering that we waited about three days in Panama to have the thing serviced. We think we know what is wrong with it but can’t do any further investigations until the whole thing cools down. We are about 3 degrees north of the Equator and it is approaching a steady 30 degrees day and night. So for now, fixing the generator and finding a way we can sail through the doldrums are the two tasks in hand. I have abandoned fishing because it is a bit complicated to stop the boat with this sail configuration and I don’t fancy trying to drag a tuna, wahoo or marlin in doing 6 knots in the opposite direction to an angry fish.
Little Things Are Sent To Try Us
March 26th
We have made very good progress since setting off. Today is no exception. I have been happily sunning myself at the stern with my daily beer ration and watching my fishing line as you can see in the photo. There is a very shallow patch ahead ( meaning it comes up from 4000 meters deep to only 1000 meters deep) and we are hopeful of finding fish there. If not there, then we are transiting past a lonely lump of rock called Malpelo island owned by Colombia. Based on various other blogs that I have read, it pays to let the Colombians know who you are and that you are in their neighbourhood. Others who have not done that, have been chased at night by Colombian Navy boats with no lights on which is a bit scary if you are up there alone on night watch. The island is very impressive. The bit you an see in the photo rises about 845 feet above sea level, but the whole thing is a 13000 foot high mountain rising from the sea bed. Bigger than Mont Blanc in the alps. Imagine what is under the water when you look at the photo. One big surprise about it was that it is incorrectly charted by at least a couple of miles. I have a different GPS and chart from the one on the boat. We transitted the island at least 1.5 miles offshore to the south and west. Both GPS’s showed us sailing right through the middle of the rock! Don’t rely solely on even two independent charts and GPS’s, always find an other independent way to check. Yesterday we did it visually. At night you would have to use the radar or stay away till daylight.
The other great thing that I am appreciating right now is the investment in he satellite phone. It is really great to just dial and speak to Sarah and family. As I write this we have another 500 miles to go to get to the Galapagos which will take at least another 4 days. Having the phone stops you from thinking that you are in the middle of nowhere, even when you are!
I have probably said so before but the stars are stunning when you are on night watch. I am getting much better at orientating myself by identifying the major constellations and working out where north south east and west must be by that. My previous post was garbage, you can see the plough, it is just upside down, with the North star below it close to the horizon. The seafarers of old did that before compasses and sextants were invented. I have stopped short of trying astro navigation on this trip.
An Altogether Happier Boat
March 27th
Hi all. The generator was repaired late last night. There is a little gizmo inside called an impeller. It looks like the wheel on a water mill and it pushes cold sea water around to cool things. It was replaced 10 days ago in Panama and had fallen to bits causing the generator to overheat and cut out. It should have lasted about a year . Fortunately we have several spares for it. The other happy news was that our attempts to get the sails up correctly today were much smoother and as a result we have made a much better mileage. We plan on about 120 miles every 24 hours. As I write, we have approximately 350 nautical miles left to run to the anchorage in the Galapagos. We need to speed up a bit. That is about 3 days and it just got dark so we want to get in while it is light , otherwise we hang about offshore until first light.
The third piece of really good news today was that we got the water maker going , again after a couple of teething problems. We had gotten down to 580 litres from a thousand when we set off. Running it today for two hours created 90 litres so in a few days we should be back up to nearly a full tank and more normal washing can resume. The temperature today was 33C in the shade. Without the sailing breeze it is very uncomfortable. I managed to get mildly sunburnt a couple of days ago so was wearing long pants and a long sleeved shirt all of today. The winds are really light force 3 or 4 at best. The sea is calm and there are virtually no other boats around. We have seen 4 since leaving . The Pacific Ocean is a very big place.
More later….
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