[This message forwarded from their sailmail status report.]

Good evening from the Gulf Stream, 35*21'N 74*25'W, just past
Cape Hatteras, the bugbear of all East Coast Sailors...

The evening got off to an inauspicious start as the sink
overflowed due to a forgotten open salt water tap during our
showers on the platform aft. Ah, well - the floor and drawers
under the counter are now freshly cleaned...

(Richard Bach, in The Reluctant Messiah)

Also, as you no doubt noticed, propagation is really lousy, and
as a result, despite over twelve hours of trying, we failed to
succeed in sending yesterday's log until the wee hours of today,
and at that I had to break it up into tiny pieces to be able to
stay connected long enough for any one section to complete.

Our wing-and-wing rig performed marvelously, taking us dead
downwind the entire day. However, by about midnight, we'd eased
our way back into the Gulf Stream for real, and we were seeing
speeds pushing 11 knots in apparent winds of 8-10. Earlier, it
had been very rolly and that slowed us down, a bit, I think, as
our speed went up notably when the rolling eased a bit. For all
the 6-8' seas, however, it's been a relatively smooth ride, as
the waves are not too close together, and we're mostly going the
same direction as they are.

The skies were overcast, but in the entire day we saw exactly
three other boats, all very far off, and none of them at night.
The radar, on at 24 miles full time, had no targets. Even the
slight lightning display off to the west was well out of range,
and the night was uneventful. That is, if you discount the
marvelous phosphorescence display as we sliced through the night
waters...

Lydia relieved me about 2AM and I gratefully climbed into our
airy bunk. It's airy because of the windscoop and the breeze
directly aft of the boat. I'm sore from all the unaccustomed
exercise I'm getting aboard, and I needed the massager we got
when we were ashore to work out the kinks in my left shoulder.

By the time I took over at 6:30, we'd had another minor
equipment failure - the bail (the wire thing connecting the pole
to the lift) on the spinnaker pole broke, leaving the pole
without a lift to stabilize it against the fore and aft guys.
Fortunately, the lift line didn't go up the mast, so when Lydia
gets back up, I'll make the appropriate adjustments to allow us
to continue.

Well, Lydia's been exhausted, so I did it myself - the pole's
stowed, and we turned on to a beam reach in order to return to
the Gulf Stream. Our course has been taking us steadily, but
very slowly, east of the presumed axis of the Gulf Stream.
However, our speed remains very good, so we're not going to
alter course unless recommended by Chris Parker, our forecaster
and router. So far everything he's forecast has been exactly
on, unlike NOAA which usually manages to be off by 50% or more :{/)

That course took us very much more north, and into some
impressive seas and winds. By 10 AM we were in 15-20 knot
winds, and 8-10' seas. We were making only 6.5 knots,
apparently against one of the eddy currents shown in the links I
gave as we left, and only 34 degrees north. However, I added
the staysail at 2PM and that allowed us to turn a little more
into the wind, carrying us back into favorable currents, quickly
upping our speed to 8 knots.

By 4, we were on the edges, and we could afford to turn downwind
a bit, so we went on a broad reach while we had dinner. That
helped minimize the rock and roll, but then we got serious :{))

By the time we were finished with dinner, we'd re-entered the
Gulf Stream. I got creative and fixed the spinnaker pole, and
wing-and- wing, it is again. We're headed 56 degrees, at speeds
varying from the high nines to pushing 11 knots, again. So far
it's tough to fault this voyage...

L8R

Skip, Lydia, and Portia, the sea cat

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
See our galleries at www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery !
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"You are never given a wish without also being given the power
to make it come true. You may have to work for it however."
(and)
"There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in
its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."

On Aug 2, 7:13*pm, wrote:

Also, as you no doubt noticed, propagation is really lousy, and
as a result, despite over twelve hours of trying, we failed to
succeed in sending yesterday's log until the wee hours of today,
and at that I had to break it up into tiny pieces to be able to
stay connected long enough for any one section to complete.



Humm........ now how reliable is ssb email??



Lydia relieved me about 2AM and I gratefully climbed into our
airy bunk. *It's airy because of the windscoop and the breeze
directly aft of the boat.


YOU sleep with your hatches OPEN while under way with one person on
watch??????~!
I sleep better with no 21"x21" holes in my deck. But I guess comfort
is a more prudent choice.



*I'm sore from all the unaccustomed
exercise I'm getting aboard,


A bit out of shape are you?

By the time I took over at 6:30, we'd had another minor
equipment failure -

The planets are starting to align..........


Well, Lydia's been exhausted, so I did it myself - the pole's
stowed,


So your actually single handed. Humm, lets see 1) 60+ year old guy out
of shape and jurting,2) one old waman not able to do her job, 3) care
taker hubby doing the job of two................

The planets are aligning


That course took us very much more north, and into some
impressive seas and winds. *By 10 AM we were in 15-20 knot
winds, and 8-10' seas.

Good now you can start sailing.


*We were making only 6.5 knots,
apparently against one of the eddy currents shown in the links I
gave as we left, and only 34 degrees north. *However, I added
the staysail at 2PM and that allowed us to turn a little more
into the wind, carrying us back into favorable currents, quickly
upping our speed to 8 knots.


And after doing your Set and Drift calculation you found what??



*So far
it's tough to fault this voyage...

Skip, Lydia, and Portia, the sea cat

On Sat, 2 Aug 2008 20:13:30 -0700 (PDT), wrote:

The evening got off to an inauspicious start as the sink
overflowed due to a forgotten open salt water tap during our
showers on the platform aft.

You got off light. Leaving taps open is a good way to run every last
drop of fresh water over the side.

Casady