Light wind blues

Last night the wind died on us again. We had 10kts of wind from behind, which meant the apparent wind in the sail was 6kts, and we were barely doing 4kts. Our gennaker was just holding shape, and at about 3am, the gennaker was collapsing due to a lack of wind. One often has such light winds for days on end, and we try everything to keep on sailing. I've even had a gennaker and a Code 0 sail up at the same time before, but they keep on back filling when the boat goes a bit faster down the swell than the apparent wind speed. As I have said many times before, this is the biggest challenge when out at sea. The global average wind speed is 11kts, and you will encounter many days with such light winds if you are planning to cross oceans. Only one sail in the world that can sail these conditions, and we did brilliantly well with an Oxley Levante sail on my previous crossing, motoring only 60hrs over a distance of 7000nm. What also makes it an amazing experience being able to sail th
ese
light winds, is the sea state. With such little wind, the sea becomes like a big flat lake, and being able to sail such smooth waters, is surreal. We have been motoring since 4am, and expect to do so for another 24hrs.

St.Helena is under 300nm away, and we should arrive there on Monday. Looking forward to sharing some pictures and videos of our trip this far. We will have to take on about 400ltrs of fuel. On my previous trip we only used 120ltrs of diesel over 7000nm. That is about 58nm/ltr,and on average we used 3ltr per day. Thus far we have been getting just over 4nm/ltr. And we still have over 6000nm to go. Not that our boat is slow or need a lot of wind to sail. We have North X1 cross radial sails, a top down furling Code 0, a gennaker, and Gori folding props. We just don't have an Oxley Levante. I would happily leave the Code 0 and the gennaker behind, and just take an Oxley Levante, and Gori folding props. We had fixed props on my previous crossing, and the Gori folding props makes a substantial difference in sailing speed, and wear and tear on the sail drives. My idea of perfect sailor's world, a catamaran with an Oxley Levante sail and Gori folding props, and thousands of miles of
open
ocean. I believe I can improve on the 60hrs motoring used on my previous crossing, and achieve a better average speed as well on the same boat, and same time of the year. I may have an opportunity to do just that, a Leopard L50 from Cape Town to Fort Lauderdale in December.

Yesterday late we brought our lures in, and I could feel there was a bit of resistance on my line. Quite surprised to find a baby dorado on the end of the line. It was still well alive, and we released it. Jane was slightly perturbed saying she could have eaten that fish. We have been fishing for days and this was our first catch, can't blame her. I just trust that by returning the undersized dorado, we will catch a bigger one soon. This morning there are quite a few bonnies swimming with us. I have only seen this a few times before, and amazing how these small tuna family fish can keep up with us. I'm not a big fan of eating bonnies, I find them quite bland, and red meat. Friends of mine in Seychelles who would know better than me, say it is the best fish for sushimi. The waxlike substance that one can scrape of a bonnie is apparently used by taxidermist for coloring as well.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead, and chat again soon.

Paul

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