Words from the Watch
Day 6 : Ascension Island to Azores
Wednesday, March 23rd 2022
Day 6 was another lovely day in the ITCZ – not many squalls, balmy weather, flat seas and lots of gentle wind made for some very pleasant sailing.
For something different, Jen took a moment during each of her three watches to write down what she was thinking.
Over to Jen…
Window to the sky (Night watch: 1am – 5am)
The sun has set and the moon still sleeps so the stars own the sky. To say they fill the sky does them no justice. There is almost more twinkle than darkness tonight.
I am on my night watch stargazing through our cockpit hatch. I let my gaze settle above me and wish for a shooting star. It’s my periphery that catches the sight of a burst of light falling to earth. My wish has come true.
I settle back to listen to my favourite sounds of sailing whilst gazing at the stars. When a new sound tickles my ears. It sounds like a snort and then a splash, exactly like Pete described it.
Dolphins. They visited Pete this morning when I was asleep, he said these ones made a funny snorting sound as they arced up and out of the water.
I smile but don’t get up, I won’t be able to see them. Instead I wonder, are they enjoying tonight’s sky too?
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A Moment at Sea (Morning Watch: 9am – 1pm)
A bird is fascinated by our slow, swaying, clanking island, it keeps flying ahead landing in the water and floating by, always looking at us with its head cocked to the side, wondering what is this strange creature with its huge white wings, can I rest on it, does it have food?
We are doing 2.1 knots of boat speed in 3.7 knots of wind. There is a storm about 3 nm behind us and it has taken all our wind. It is not unpleasant as Steely is gently bobbing, occasionally lurching, but always inching forward in the relatively flat seas.
I find storms to be strange. One can be behind us with the wind forward of us, so it should be blown away. But instead it has this weird ability to suck the wind and pull itself forward on to us. So I am anticipating a downpour soon.
The bird has still not decided what we are or whether we are useful and continues its fly by/float by assessments.
A moment at sea.
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Magic (Afternoon watch: 5pm – 9pm)
Some days I wish I could beam friends on to Steely to experience this magic.
The breeze is warm but refreshing as it plays across your skin. The sway of Steely on the ocean swell is soothing and gentle. The smell is salty, clean, and nothing like you will ever smell on land, it is pure. And when you look out to the horizon in any direction it’s blue; blue water, blue sky. But it’s the sound for me that makes it truly magic. The sound of Steely making her way slowly across the South Atlantic Ocean.
Its hard to describe. There is the whoosh of Steely parting the water as she pushes her way forward. The occasional slap and tinkle of droplets falling as a wavelet hits Steely side on. The wind rustling through the rigging, imagine a low breathy flute note just out of reach. A creaking sound she makes as the wind builds and softens and Steely settles herself into a new level of heel. And lastly the pop and crackle of our wake, the water bubbling and swirling as we glide on to our destination.
It’s pure magic and I wish you were here.
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Day 6 Statistics:
Time on passage so far: 5 days, 21 hours
Distance covered in last 24 hours: 99 nm
Average Speed in last 24 hours: 4.1 knots
Official Length of intended Route when we set out: 3,480 nm
Current Projected Distance to Go according to chart plotter: 2,759 (2,957)
Distance Sailed so Far: 751 nm
Total Projected Distance of Route: (2,759+751) 3,510
Change in total projected distance in last 24 hours: +9 miles (a close look at our track will show you all the little twists and turns we’re having to make to keep wind in our sails – the steady direction of the trade winds is gradually being replaced by the seeming randomness of the ITCZ. And those twists and turns add up – an extra 9 miles today).
Motoring hours on Day 6: 1
Amount of fuel used so far from 350 litre ITCZ fuel budget: 38 litres (7 hours x 5.5 l/h)
Estimated miles to go until end of ITCZ : 393
Amount of motoring miles remaining in budget: 312
Number of times in last 24 hours we said “I wish all passage making could be as nice as this” : 5
