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June 6th 2020

Position: 00° 51.9458' S 041° 43.2092' W

Boat: Yesterday the pulley for the raw water (sea water) pump came loose and the engine got hot but John got is and put it on again however we are sailing and saving the motor for when we get to Grenada and I have and idea on how to repair it so the same wont happen again and we hope we can send the pump in for that modification while we are in Quarantine but other than that all good with the boat

wind We have light winds but are still able to sail and going well
People: we are both ok
Boat Speed: 5 to 8 KTS
Wind: 10 kts East North easterly
Distance 172 miles in 24 hours miles sailed
Course: true ,Directly to Grenada
Conditions: good with a bit of rolling

24-hour mileage: expecting around 172 miles which is still really good even though we have current helping us

Comments:
John has a sophisticated weather routing program which relies on being able to use the iridium for downloading the data so it takes a long time at 2400b/s but it helps because it shows different routes we can use to improve our speed and optomise wind usage and currents. When he sets it off you see four little boats racing each other using the differing weather forecasts to see which way is best and its like watching him play video games.
Then we have to remember what was shown so we can see if the path we chose actually comes out as predicted.

I only get grib files so i am in the dark ages that work well enough for my kind of sailing which compared to John might take a few days extra to get to the same place

Yesterday sitting on one of my shifts and sailing, while John was having a snooze, at around 8 knots i got back into my cruising zone and it was good to remember how I love being at sea and just sailing along without sight of land and the quiet which is not quiet at all because there are sounds all around me like the splashing of the sea on the side of the boat and the wind whistling through the stay wires and water passing along the side of the boat and of course the other boat noises. But also the white caps and the rainbows which are so clear and vivid and clouds which take on shapes and your imagination runs rampant with deciding what shapes you see. THen there are the flying fish Dolphins and predatory fish jumping out of the water to see the crazy species sitting on a piece of plastic bobbing through their garden. And of course these combinations of scenes are changing every few minutes to keep you entertained

In Brazil i bought a bright yellow plastic ground sheet and have tied it up over the cockpit to protect me from the sun which is viscous and it is now also keeping the rain out of the boat because with the winds coming from behind the rain does the same and it blows into the gangway like its a funnel. Well i am pleased the piece of plastic works for both and protects me from the rain. The gods of the rain have learned when its my shift and when its Johns because the taps go off for Johns shift and come on for mine and its good that i get to shower in fresh rain each day but the hanging space on the side of the boat is getting crowded with all the wet clothes trying to dry

I could keep on with the stories but i will keep some to keep those of you looking at my blog page interested
Which BTW with the help of a genius son i am loading these daily updates on my blog and they can be accessed there and if you want you can register on my blog and each time i write an article you will get it mailed to you from my blogpage

Maybe i will only post it there and that way any person interested in reading my stories can see them

Kevin

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