July 6th, 2009

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Monday July 6

Monday, July 6th, 2009

At 19.15 hrs UTC I am at 34.30 N 51.50 W with 1136 miles to go, a 103 mile towards destination day. In 6 days I have moved over 650 miles away from Bermuda, as the crow flies. It took me 8 days to cover the 600 miles to Bermuda, from Beaufort, N.C. Another fantastic passage making day. During the night the winds came down some and just the storm jib did was not sufficient canvas any longer. But I was lazy and waited till day light to go to the 90%. At 10.30 hrs my 24 hour distance had dropped to 93 miles but as you can see I have made up for that during the day. The winds came down to about 15 knots but have crept back up to around 20. At one time I was nearly surfing but the heavy load I am carrying makes this impossible, I was hitting 7 knots frequently. I could get used to this kind of sailing life. Most of the morning I have been able to get excellent reception on Radio Nederland. They covered to-day’s “etappe” from Marseille to la Grande Motte practically the entire route with another exciting finish. Radio Nederland invited listeners to e-mail or sms their reception. So, I sent an e-mail and 10 minutes later I hear my name and they read off my e-mail. Until now I have had very little luck on any reception in the morning, the evenings are always much better for that. I tried another heavier lure but have not had any hits on the trap line. I am hoping for a clear Eastern horizon to get a photo of the rising moon. It should still have some light left from the setting sun, to-day. Last night there were thick clouds on the horizon. To-morrow morning and Wednesday should also be good opportunities for moon sets. After that there is too much day light.

Herb wants me to continue south of my rhumb line to avoid possible gale conditions north of 35 degrees North. The daily faxed Grib files I get tell a different story. But to be safe I’ll stay nearer to 34 latitude.