We are in the doldrums/ Intertropical Convection Zone/ ITCZ
now. Lots of convection with rain clouds everywhere last night and today
with frequent sprinkles. No heavy rain yet, but we have washed most of
the salt off the boat. Although the winds are not strong, we have had
8-10 knots most of the time. Not being in a hurry, we have not had to
resort to motoring. The boat continues to plod along averaging 4 knots of
speed. The seas are gentle, but enough to keep the boat rolling,
sometimes more and sometimes less. The boat's resonant frequency for
rolling is slightly different from the frequency of the waves. So the
boat will be flat and calm and quiet for a bit, then starts rolling and
groaning and banging with the mainsail slatting, then it all damps out again.
We rolled up the headsail two days ago, trading off some boat speed for
quietness and sail longevity. There was not enough pressure on the sail
from the wind to keep the sail full and rigid. It would periodically
collapse, then refill with a bang causing the boat to shudder. The
temperature of the air outside the boat has been pleasant. Inside, it is
85 to 90 degrees but we have many Hella fans that cool us. Marine road
kill report: one small flying fish and 1 small squid. Radar: numerous benign
squalls surrounding us.
Late this afternoon, we had an Audubon's Shearwater flying close around the boat, pass after pass after pass. Sometimes, only 10 feet away. I tossed the small fish and squid up in the air to see if the bird was interested. It was not. Occasionally, it would grab some small bit out of the water on the fly, or land and grab something several inches below the surface or dive below the surface. Its eyes, the image processing part of its brain and its flight reaction times are awesome. There was ample opportunity to take photos. We have a Canon Rebel T2i digitalSLR
camera with auto focusing and image stabilizing lenses. It is incredibly
good. In the "Sport" mode, I can try to track the bird around
the boat. It takes several shots a second continuously. With the
equivalent of a 500 mm lens on a 35 mm film camera, holding the camera with
only one hand while desperately hanging onto the rolling, lurching boat with
the other hand, "It ain't easy, folks". There are visual obstructions
all around the cockpit, but I don't worry about that. I can just delete
the 95% of the pictures that are "trash". We are left with
quite a number of good images and a few awesome ones.
Late this afternoon, we had an Audubon's Shearwater flying close around the boat, pass after pass after pass. Sometimes, only 10 feet away. I tossed the small fish and squid up in the air to see if the bird was interested. It was not. Occasionally, it would grab some small bit out of the water on the fly, or land and grab something several inches below the surface or dive below the surface. Its eyes, the image processing part of its brain and its flight reaction times are awesome. There was ample opportunity to take photos. We have a Canon Rebel T2i digital
It has taken us two weeks of around-the-clock sailing to get
to this particular place in the Pacific Ocean this
afternoon. We live for these kinds of experiences and memories. And
we couldn't care less about what Snooki did today. We are so grateful
that we share so many similar interests and values. And where we differ,
we enrich each other's life. We are ever so thankful for each other, God's
awesome creation and the family and friends who support and help us being out
here.
This evening, our radar shows just a few rain clouds. More than half of the sky is cloud free. Lots of stars to see. Venus was bright in the western sky early in the evening. The Big Dipper is very bright looking over the transom, but Polaris is barely visible just above the horizon. We may not see Polaris again until after we fly back toCalifornia
From Lynne: When I went to bed at 6:30 pm Marquesas time it was dark and the shearwaters were about 5 ft away from the cockpit, their calls sounding like an ooga ooga horn. I guess the ooga ooga tells others to come. We do feel like Moses as we cross the ITCZ at this very narrow, quiet and calm section of it. The ITCZ undulates and moves like a very long snake just above or below the equator depending on the season. There can be breaks in the snake and we found one.
This evening, our radar shows just a few rain clouds. More than half of the sky is cloud free. Lots of stars to see. Venus was bright in the western sky early in the evening. The Big Dipper is very bright looking over the transom, but Polaris is barely visible just above the horizon. We may not see Polaris again until after we fly back to
From Lynne: When I went to bed at 6:30 pm Marquesas time it was dark and the shearwaters were about 5 ft away from the cockpit, their calls sounding like an ooga ooga horn. I guess the ooga ooga tells others to come. We do feel like Moses as we cross the ITCZ at this very narrow, quiet and calm section of it. The ITCZ undulates and moves like a very long snake just above or below the equator depending on the season. There can be breaks in the snake and we found one.
For a while it looked as though there would be a divorce on
our boat. We knew Pacific Daylight Time, UTC and what time it is in the
Marquesas (UTC minus 9 hrs 30 mins) but what time was it on the boat and
what time should be written in the log? Matters weren't helped by our modern
electronic marvels which balked at this weird unknown time zone shift.
While Barry slept I changed all the clocks to the Hawaii Time Zone then I made
them all "wrong" by half an hour. It is Marquesas time on our boat
now and we signed a peace accord.
I finally got the Night Sky app and Navionics Australasian
chart plotting app to utilize the GPS and
quit looking for an internet connection. You do this by turning ON
internet and location services. It tells you it can't connect and you tell it
to quit whining and get to work. Success. Go figure.
Position : 5 26.80' N, 133 17.36' W
Speed : 5.6 knots, Course : 184 degree
Speed : 5.6 knots, Course : 184 degree
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