Because the morning was mainly overcast and in the afternoon our solar panels were - thanks to our southerly course - shaded by the sails, we only got 10 Amp hours into the batteries leaving them at 67% by dusk. Given our current consumption they'll probably be down to 20% by the morning and so we'll either need a sunny day from the get go, or have to run the engine to charge them. Our weather forecast indicates the wind will drop right away tonight and so we'll wait to see what happens and start motoring if the wind does indeed fail. At 1900 we're still making 5 knots despite a drop off in the wind.
Mick's cooking tonight and it smells lovely!
It was good - a sort of sweet and sour chicken curry served with potatoes and a can of beer. After dinner I went to bed and this time managed to get some sleep.
We were cruising along at a gentle 3-4 knots roughly southwards and slowly converging with the African coast. Whilst this was not exactly a direct course for Barbados or even the Cape Verde, a large high pressure cell was situated to our west which we needed to skirt around in order to hold onto a breeze. During his watch, Mick had to head the boat further to the south east to achieve that. We were right on the edge of it and for a while our speed fell to 3 knots and I suspected we might lose the wind completely. However, soon after I took over the watch at 0200 we were once again up to 5 knots and so I eased the sheets and headed the boat west of south once again. In fact I steered as far off the wind as possible without blanketing the genoa with the mainsail.
We could do with getting an updated weather forecast tomorrow to confirm what's going on, but I suspect that at some point during the day we'll get underneath the high pressure cell and be able to change to our trade wind rig of twin headsails and then head much further west.
For now (0330) we're gliding smoothly southwards on a flat sea under the stars. Perfect night sailing apart from the heavy dew making it uncomfortable to sit in the cockpit.
The only concern I have at present is over our power consumption. We're running one of our two fridges at around 3°C to ensure our fresh meat lasts, but it's eating the Amps up fast and we really need a sunny day tomorrow to replenish them otherwise we'll need to run the engine. Actually if we're going to fire up Starlink to get our weather forecast we'll probably have to anyway, A warm shower wouldn't go amiss either and we'll need to run the water maker come Saturday. We could do with a decent wind generator but they cost a lot of money. We removed the old one because the meagre amount of power it generated was more than offset by the effect of it shading the top solar panel.
The really big success of the passage to date is the new Hydrovane. Quite apart from the remote control lines making it so much easier to use than the old one - no more hanging off the back of the boat to adjust it - it steers the boat on a much straighter course and is much better at coping with changes in wind strength. The bigger rudder and vane are no doubt responsible for that. The big rudder also increases manouvrebility in confined spaces although two crew members are really needed to take full advantage of that.
I have to confess I had my doubts about incurring the additional cost of the big rudder and new larger vane, but I'm very glad I did. The crew at Hydrovane certainly know their stuff. If only there was an easy way to fit and remove the rudder on/off the back of a high sterned boat like Bonny, it would be perfect.
The very pleasant smooth night time sailing continued. Looking behind us to the north under the very clear sky, the plough stood out, standing upright on the end of its shaft - an orientation we're not at all used to in our home latitudes.
We continue to skirt the eastern fringe of the high pressure cell; when the boat speed drops off I head a little further East of south and when it picks up again I head a little further west. I hope this means we keep the breeze without going further East than needed.
A rather strange but welcome observation... the AIS antenna mounted quite low on the stern of the boat, is picking up transmissions from much further away than it used to - 100 miles plus compared with the 10 or so that we got previously. I assume this must be down to the atmospheric conditions. It will be interesting to see if this changes once again.
0550 on 23/11 and we're encountering significant phospheresence for the first time (that I've noticed). What look like large glowing globules about a foot in diameter appear in our wake as Bonny continues to glide seemingly effortlessly through the smooth sea at 5-6 knots under a gorgeous starlit sky.
By the time Mick got up at 0800 GMT, I was feeling peckish and so decided to cook breakfast of fried plantain, tomatoes and fried eggs. After that I took a nap. I woke up at 1100 with a minor brainwave for improving our solar charging.... make some changes to the flexible solar panel mounting (which is currently 'permanently' fixed to the sprayhood with cable ties and flexed to its shape and therefore is never fully aligned to the sun) so that we can move it around and position it to always face the sun as its angle changes during the course of the day. This should be particularly advantageous on our current course southwards, when in the afternoon the panel is completely shaded by the sails and is therefore contributing nothing at all!
We experimented first by cutting the cable tie fastenings and wedged the panel in a more favourable position on the sprayhood and were rewarded with another 3-4 amps of input. Then Mick set to, to make up a pair of extension leads so that we could reposition the panel in different locations around the cabin top and side decks. Of course in more boisterous conditions than those currently experienced, it would be necessary to re-attach the panel securely on the sprayhood.
Well, it did increase the input from that panel, but now all our other panels are shaded by the sails and we are nowhere near to replenishing the Amps lost. We have therefore decided to run the engine for an hour or so.
In the meantime, Mick has a splinter in his foot that will require some minor surgery!
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