***Life on board***
We are doing well on our new heading but the wind has decreased today and so added to out one headsail a second on the opposite side and are holding it out open with the end of the boom (still no mainsail up). In this way we added a little to our speed and are making just under 6 knots which is still pretty good all considering.
I made pancakes today and later Adam made a stew out of leftover beans and rice which was quite good. Lazily we read and pondered and slept. Will worked on some video editing and I did some writing on my computer. We plan to watch another movie tonight.
***The Boat***
We have had some problems with the Navigation light at the top of the mast and are now using only our anchor light as a signal to other ships at night. We narrowed down the problem to be in between a connector just under the mast and the fitting at the mast head so someone will have to go up the mast to check the connection at the fitting when we get to Marquesas. It would not be something we can easily do at sea. If need be, we have temporary navigation lights that we can run up the mast or affix to the bow pulpit.
We also discovered a small crack in the plexiglas window ontop of the main companionway hatch. We will attempt to reinforce the area with a piece of wood as a permanent fix when we arrive in the Marquesas.
***Communication***
We checked in with the Barefoot net again this evening. Propagation was not so good and everyone was having a little more trouble than normal copying the net controller but we got our report in.
***Weather***
The swell is about the same but the wind has died down today to around 10-12 knots out of the ESE. The boats motion is still pretty harsh, rocking and rollling around when the swell catches us a little sideways and not dead from behind.
Position (11:00pm):
11 deg 37' S
127 deg 37' W
Alan and the Crew