Shifting priorities

December 26, 2016 Leg 2 Day 6 @ 10 p.m.  

Lat 10 55.7 S Long 159 24.9 W Wind: NW 10 knots Waves: W 1.5 m Course: 60t  Speed: 5 knots Cloud 100% Baro 1009
Miles in last 24 hrs:120 nm  Range to Honolulu: 1939 nm

My second try with the line made of Dynemar seems to be working for a fan belt, for how long who knows, so I will make up a few more as I have 100 feet of it. I will also try splicing the two new belts into one new one.  This may work as well because I have some stainless steel wire which I can use on the splices. I only have a few more days of this light wind and calms so I am sure I will pull through. So far West Wind II has done an amazing job of sailing in this very light wind at speeds of over six knots for hours on end and almost steering herself as Fleming wasn’t trained very well in light air, but Auto Ray helm has done yeoman’s time here in these light conditions.

It’s been a busy day here. The morning saw us sail through two great downpours which I put to good use with soap and shampoo. I went from sweating profusely to shivering cold in about fifteen minutes. Felt great. These are moments to be savoured and remembered. Altogether a good day. Not far to the trades and some steady wind. I will sleep well tonight.

We had a quiet night with good steady westerly breezes which brought us past the 2000 nm milestone and into the 19 hundreds away from Honolulu. A big
milestone here on board. Dawn broke with a rain storm that has lasted since 5:30 for almost two hours and it is still raining with no sign of the sun yet. I spent most of that time in and out of the cock pit helping Auto and WW II navigate through the shifty winds inside the rain storm to the point where we have two reefs in the main and a full yankee making 6.5 – 7 knots on a course of 048T.  The wind is from the North West at about 15 knots. I have coaxed Fleming out of retirement and he is merrily waving his vane in the air directing us on a steady bearing, while Aero, the wind generator whirls silently away making electricity to run this computer.  The world appears for the moment to be on course and going well.

With this wind blowing and the wind generator doing its job, there is no need for Perkins so I may not need to test my onboard made fan belt till later. I will work on making a couple of others this morning. The rain has cooled things off nicely and once again I am squeaky clean. As a matter of fact I was out there in the rain so long this morning my hands got all wrinkled like they did when I was a kid and stayed in the tub too long.

Temperature is a comfortable 26° C in the cabin this morning so I think tea is back on the menu.

The ride is getting a bit boisterous so I think a reef in the Yankee will settle things down nicely. I have set our next big goal at crossing the equator which is 11 degrees 15 minutes north, which, translated into miles, is 60 miles per degree and 15 minutes so  60 X 11 + 15 = 675 nautical miles.

Engine mount forward starboard side is broken, making some water, have under control. Will try to fix. Fan belt no long priority.