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Showing posts with the label motoring across the Atlantic

Beep Beep Beep

The life onboard definitely has its own rhythm. Three hours on watch, three hours off – it leads to a lot of solitude, strange sleep patterns (waking up at odd hours seems to be the norm!), and a constant awareness of what's going on around the boat. High-stress situations can pop up unexpectedly, but thankfully, they're usually interspersed with stretches of peaceful calm. Napping whenever possible becomes an essential skill, and household chores find their way onto the agenda even in the middle of the ocean. On a new boat, especially one that hasn't been fully tested yet, keeping an ear and an eye on the mechanical and electrical systems becomes an additional, ever-present responsibility. The wind situation remains unchanged. We've decided to make a beeline for Trinidad, opting to motor directly there rather than risk staying in what feels like a bullseye. The internet, while a fantastic tool for weather forecasts, current checks, and tracking, can also be a double-ed...

3.7

The wind, it seems, has a mind of its own. Yesterday, it decided to veer a little further east and weaken considerably, making it practically useless for our purposes. Not wanting to dawdle any longer than necessary, we've made a strategic course correction. We've fired up the engine and are now heading at 260 degrees – 10 degrees south of our original path, but still aiming slightly north of Trinidad. Our hope is to catch some northerly winds as we progress. If not, well, there's no harm done. However, the weather forecasts aren't exactly optimistic on that front. The good news is that even with the weak apparent wind hovering around 7 knots, it's still giving us a gentle push. We're maintaining a steady 6 knots at 1800 RPM, and fuel consumption is very economical at around 3.7 liters per hour. So, even though the sails aren't doing much billowing at the moment, we're still making good progress. Our range with this engine efficiency is huge – around...