The Realm of Cloud
October 18, 2018
Day 14
Noon Position: 09 24N 129 34W
Course/Speed: S 5
Wind: NNW 6
Sea: S 5
Sky: Complex cloudy sky. Squally.
10ths Cloud Cover: 9
Bar: 1013
Cabin Degrees Fahrenheit: 88
Water Degrees Fahrenheit: 84
Percent Relative Humidity: 70
Sail: Motoring.
Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good: 102
Miles since departure: 1948
Avg. Miles/Day: 139
This is the realm of the cloud.
The whole-horizon photos included here are from just after sun-up. Each is taken toward a different cardinal point so that the entire sky can be seen in one moment. What struck me was the complexity of it. Is there a single cloud type not represented?
As for Mo and me, we are slowly working our way through the doldrums, this happy land of clouds and not much wind. The last part of the night and the morning were calm, the water heaving but glassy, and much of our time then was under power. In the afternoon, dark squalls formed whose size was that of ancient cities. Black rain columns were the parapets. Some of these seemed to produce their own wind, though they were stationary, and we glided around two in the afternoon, taking wind from the west at 10 knots, then wind from the NE at 8.
Nothing holds for long.
Often the base wind is 4 knots, easy enough to glide on if the water were flat. It is anything but. The seas from two hemispheres colide here, and Mo rolls and the rig whaps around. It takes a good 6 knots of wind to keep the sails full and quiet.
So we piecemeal our southing out of here-a-breeze, there-a-breeze, and in between we motor.
Unfortunately, the forecast suggests that wind will keep retreating just before us until about 6N, where the SE Trades should begin in earnest.
My Mom is a member of the Cloud Appreciation Society and loved the pix!
Randall! We used to call our rigging and sails in the Doldrums “The Devil’s Orchestra”
What great photos of a tortured sky! And the sea temp! Wow! Almost the same as the air temperature! We always would think the wind will NEVER COME BACK!! But it always does and then Yahoo!!! Full and by once again!!
The first is too perfect. We don’t believe it. The second is just a Turner you’ve made real. Faking fake reality. The last two might be real. Thanks for those.