World ARC Yacht "Asolare" Leg 4, Day 5 to Maquesas. Great Sailing!

Friday 15^th March 2008

 

Great Sailing!

The whole fleet will now be enjoying good sailing now that the wind field has filled in with generally SW winds of 15 – 18 knots. “Asolare” is making between 9 and 10 knots over the ground as we also have ½ knot of favourable current. The weather is partially cloudy but very sunny and warm with no showers or squalls in sight. Now at 1515hr UTC we have 2236 miles to go and the computers tell me that at this speed we will be in the Marquesas in just 9 days time! This is most unlikely to be achieved as the long range forecast indicated light winds and therefore speeds for the last week or so. “Make hay whilst the sun shines” – and it is shining brightly. We are on a broad reach with the apparent wind squarely on our port (left) side. We have all our “white” sails fully deployed – Genoa, Stay Sail, Main Sail and finally the Mizzen Sail on our second mast.

Sailing just does not get any better than this! Great sailing, company, sunbathing on the aft padded coach roof, food, wine, sleep, DVD’s in the evening with microwaved popcorn and when the sun sets over the “yardarm” a celebratory drink! It is remarkable that there is always something to celebrate! The minor drawback is the fact that there was no tonic water on any of the Galapagos Islands that was available to buy. You could get it in an ordered drink but because of the very limited supply not available sold separately. The same went for buying eggs – a staple long life product on any yacht – eggs were only mainly available to hotels and restaurants. However my very talented and persuasive crew, Steve and Deb (Steve is a very tall and big guy) managed to persuade a small lady supplier to part with two dozen eggs but could only collect them in a large plastic bag! The bumpy water taxi ride to the yacht took its toll on two of the eggs but they were soon consumed!

Today’s photo is of Blue Footed Booby’s lined up to wish us “Bon Voyage” as we left the harbour for the Marquesas. The fact that they are all so fascinated with our yacht and facing away from us is just a sign of great respect!

Capt. Peter