Good tunes and coffee drive us north, while we play with the elements.
Disco is a boat that runs on a variety of fuels. Wind is our main one, although we’re running a bit light on that right now. Coffee is second. I would like to put it at a first, but for realities sake it should be second I suppose. Music is definitely a third. When the wind is strong, music provides a suitable soundtrack to our lives as we crash and power through the ocean, life on the edge. When the wind is light, music is one of the main forms of entertainment and sanity, in the many endless and repetitive hours spent behind the helm, staring towards the horizon. Right now, it’s music, not wind, that is driving Disco.
Weather wise, our progress is relying on picking up good breeze generated by the heating and cooling of the nearby coastline. For this reason we are deliberately staying close by the coast, regardless of the fact it is also the shortest distance to make progress north. Yesterday had some seriously good wind as a result of these thermals, and we’re hoping for the same today.
In the meantime, our light wind performance is severely suffering due to the fact we have finally run out of usable cable ties for the genoa. This is a truly sad state of affairs, however we have a remedy, just not an immediate fix. We are stripping down one of our expired lengths of running rigging, and making soft shackles from the sheath. This is a combination of a splice and a knot, that will allow us to attach and detach the genoa from the forestay with relative ease, and will be much longer lasting than cable ties. It might also put us in the exciting situation that the sail would give up before the attachments, as is normally the case. I shall have to stress that this is not a challenge for the team…
Our food plan is working out well so far, only slightly affected by the fact that without a working generator there is no freezer, just a box that grows ever warmer with all the food in. We are munching on through the refrigerated goods as a matter of urgency, and glad that our main diet is still the bulletproof pesto pasta combo. For all those that thought the menu plan a lazy or uninspired option, you know see it is carefully formulated strategy, and an essential part of a thorough passage plan. As are the cookies.
I can feel the thermals kicking in. Off to hoist the Yankee, and get on the splicing action for the rest of the day.
NAV STATION
Date: 16th March 2017
Time: 1853z
Position: 18 20.0N 103 36.4W
COG: 300T
SOG: 6kts
Wind: V1
Swell: W 3-6
Sky: 2/8 stratocumulus
Weather: Fair
With the support of our partner Weather Routing Inc.
