Shout Out

Day 108

Noon Position: 43 14S 93 27E

Course/Speed: SE5

Wind: NW8-12

Bar: 1024

Sea: NW4

Sky: Clear

Sail: Twins headsails out full

Cabin Temp: 65 Water Temp: 55

Miles last 24 hours: 137

Longitude Made Good: 117

Total Miles: 14,717

Miles to Hobart: 2396

For those of you just getting caught up, these blogs are now without photos or videos because the gale of two weeks ago that shattered a window in the pilot house and flooded the boat also knocked out the Fleet Broadband 250 unit used for media, email and weather. And it killed the Iridium GO unit, which was intended as a backup system for email and weather reports if the Fleet Broadband went down. Luckily I have an older Garmin InReach aboard, backup to the backups, that enables satellite transmission of text messages and is now the source of tracker data on the website.

I mention this for two reasons. One, though I’m fortunate to have the InReach (the website would be a big blank without it), I  find it challenging to write my daily reports in 160 character chunks, with no recourse to editing, rethinking a paragraph, or adding elegance to a sentence. With the InReach, it’s fire and forget; or rather, fire and keep typing…before you forget what you wanted to say. Two, as “bad” as it is for me, it’s far worse for the guy who has to compile all these texts into a standard display. His name is Freddy, a resident of Oakland and a family friend. He’s been in charge of posting my daily missives since my departure on October 28 of last year, but his job has gotten a whole lot harder since two weeks ago.

For example, this short essay has already run on to 14 texts. The long report on the big blow that took out the window and so of my electronics was a whopping 70 texts. Imagine copy and paste times 70; plus tidy up Randall’s spelling (always creative), plus decide where the paragraph breaks, etc. It’s a job! So, on this, text number 16 for the night, I’d like to say a big THANKS to Freddy for his work at keeping the wheels on the Figure 8 website.again.

Our progress slow. The twin headsails are poled out and pull us along silently. There is a tinkle at the bow but nothing more. Sun all day. I pulled out my boots that filled with sea water two days ago. I rinsed them in fresh water and set them to dry. Ditto the socks of the moment. Ditto a set of fleece similarly soaked and thrown in the forepeak a week ago. Ah the aroma!  In the afternoon I inspected and cleaned the electric switch panels (not much water there) and began to troubleshoot the Fleet Broadband unit. It gives me lights and runs reports and otherwise suggests it would like to return to operational status.  But don’t hold your breath.