Lazy Days

March 31, 2019

Day 178

Noon Position: 41 05S  40 25W

Course(t)/Speed(kts): NE 5.5

Wind(t/tws): NW 10 – 15

Sea(t/ft): NW 4

Sky: Few wispy cirrus; mostly clear

10ths Cloud Cover: 2

Bar(mb): 1022, steady

Cabin Temp(f): 70

Water Temp(f): 62 (Note!)

Relative Humidity(%): 79

Sail: Working sail, full, reaching.

Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good (nm): 136

Miles since departure: 23,370

Avg. Miles/Day: 137

Leg North Days: 11

Leg North Miles: 1,421

Avg. Miles/Day: 129

Lazy days, warm and gentle. We are riding still our light but constant northwesterly; that faithful wind we picked up just above the Falklands continues on without a pause.

Each day it appears in the forecast that tomorrow we will reach the center edge of this high pressure system and run smack into calms, and each day the high recedes a bit further north, delivering another good day’s sail.

It’s a much appreciated gift, this breeze; quite a change from the protean blows further south. I feel a sense of release, the more so as we climb. This sensation may, in part, be due to a deck warm enough to be trod bare footed. Feet that have been encased in thick wool and rubber boots for months have finally emerged as like the groundhog, which they resembled before a soak in the passing sea and a long deferred trim. I’ll spare you the photos.

I watch the birds with anticipation. Still they are my friends from the south, the Albatross and White Chinned Petrel, but I wonder at what latitude they will depart, and then how long before we are called upon by our first Tropic Bird.