the Doldrums r'us

Finally, got the email out! The extra voltage from running the engine made the difference by giving us a better propagation range for the ham radio. The only land stations I have been able to reach for sending email by ham radio have been in San Diego - 2500 miles away, so I guess we needed the extra power.

And, when the email goes out, our weather map comes in! This morning it shows that we are skirting a small low pressure laying stationary to the east of us. We are still sailing dead down wind, wing on wing with the main sail set to starboard and the genoa poled out to port. Very comfortable, very pretty, pretty fast! Despite the nearby low, the wind is holding steady at 15 knots from the NE,which gives us a steady 6 to 7 knots of boat speed.

So far, we are sailing about 150 to 180 miles a day. Here is what our track shows:
Day 1 & 2 87.2 Nm!
Day 3 88.1 Nm
Day 4 185.9 Nm
Day 6 167.8 Nm
Day 7 158.1 Nm

This is pretty darn good sailing for our first week. Though not as fast as it would be if we had a bit more wind, this is a pretty good pace.

So far, we have sailed about 800 nautical miles, or about 1450 Kilometers. For some of us on board, the reality that we have still 1788 miles to go is settling in. "What the heck will I do for two more weeks of this?" is what I heard from one crew mate. Who knows. Usually when I hear myself saying that, the weather changes by getting nasty, then any chance of boredom vanishes!

The nearby low is really a part of the ITCZ - the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, or the Doldrums. This is where the NE trade winds of the northern hemisphere meet the SE trade winds of the Southern Hemisphere. It is known as the place of no wind, where sea weed and sailboats gather to bob about in the calm for days under a burning tropical sun; where the pitch boils out the decks under foot, and the crew is put over board in the ships boats to row and tow their ship for 15 hours at a time with
only the Captain and helmsman still aboard...... No wonder sailors of lore held such fear of the place. You can see why, then, with this good following wind, I feel we are like a boat load of burglars, sneaking around the back of the house, hoping the Doldrum Police will not notice our passing and shut down our wind. For now, we will cross our fingers and tiptoe on through the next couple of days and nights. Shhhhhh!

C. Cresswell