Armon is up for his watch and maintaining a steady speed throughout the night of 6 +/- knots. There was one very short uneventful squall - not enough rain to even wash off the salt water on the boat.
0600: The Admiral and Captain had a good night sleep. Armon passed out and was not even aware that David was on the radio net from 8-9. David had to act as the relayer for most of the net - kind of like a party line. He was the only one who could pick up the controller but most people could pick up David. So he would give their position to David and he would pass it on to the controller. Several boats that had left Puerto Vallarta and located NW of us were experiencing squalls and lightening. In fact one of the boats was supposed to be the controller for that day but had to disconnect his antennae due to the lightening. Good protection can be found in the stove or microwave! Another boat from Canada was coming up from the Galapagos and was experiencing gale force winds well to the south of us.
Captain Dave scores again as we were not experiencing any of that - just consistent NE winds at around 8-12 knots. Only discomfort was a bit of rolling from the following sea.
Noon Position: 09* 30’ N 110* 21’ W
Seas: 6 feet and a beautiful cobalt blue.
Mainly sunny with light cloud cover. Evidence of one squall but it passed aft of us.
Speed: 4.5 to 6 knots Winds 10-12 knots. Running with a single reef main
Course: 230 - 240
Distance Travelled in 24 Hours: 116 nm
Total Distance to Date: 832 knots
We have tried to light the stove again but no luck so I transferred the turkey shepherd’s pie into the frying pan, covered it with foil and heated it up that way. In no time the boat was smelling like Thanksgiving Day! No points for presentation - served in a stainless steel dog bowl but the flavour was there. The bowls have deep sides and a non-skid bottom so excellent for use on the boat - especially when the seas are as rolly as we have been experiencing.
All three of us had a disruptive night due to weather. A few squalls brought confused seas and wind. Armon counted 14 flashes of lightening on his watch so the GPS was disengaged and put into the oven. David always said that everything on a boat should have 2 uses. And since the oven isn’t working anyway we might as use it as our electrical storage unit!
The bimini cover tore along the zipper line and the snap shackle on the preventer broke.
Armon had to start up the motor to bring the boat back on coarse after undergoing an accidental jibe. But we needed to start the motor anyway as the batteries needed charging. With all the cloud cover we were not able to generate enough solar energy in the last two days to keep the batteries topped up. Now everyone is up so I made some tea. We got things back together and on course and sent Armon to bed.
Breakfast was a play on Huevos Rancheros and then we sent the Captain to bed.
The Admiral got out her cute sewing basket - a gift from David’s mom several years ago - and found what she needed to repair the bimini. So after two hours of hand sewing, it looks as good as new - maybe even better as this time she used a double stitch.
Now I know why thimbles were invented.
I sat back to relax and noted that there was a lot of movement in the body of the wind vane. Armon had noticed it also. After closer examination we noticed that one of the bolt heads had broken off and the nut was only holding it on by a thread (no exaggeration). We searched the supply cupboards and came up with the exact replacement required. How lucky was that. So Armon hung off the back end of the boat along with the required wrenches secured to the boat with a piece of rope and proceeded to replace the nut and bolt.
Well, he is already upside down so he might as well check the other 3 bolts. Good thing as two of them were also loose. Everything is tightened up and a major disaster is avoided. We were very proud of ourselves - all done without waking the Captain. The look of gratification on his face said it all - instead of having to tell him about another issue to deal with!
But now Armon and I are pretty sweaty and the Captain is a bit grungy after his nap in a hot boat so the three of us went up to the bow, turned on the salt water pump and played. A final rinse with fresh water and we all felt like new! This was too much fun and I am sure will become a daily event. Maybe more than once.
Chili in the pressure cooker for dinner as the hamburger was starting to thaw. Things in Bag Number Two are still frozen and it looks like my system is working. But one hour in the galley and I am all sweaty again. Good excuse for another spray with the salt water!
And so ends another day at sea
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