Thursday, May 17, 2007

Journal Entry - May 17 & 18 - LW+SS=BBTC

Author: Scott

We continue to have light winds with counter current directly on or just off our starboard bow. At times the current is as strong as 2.7 knots, this means if we are sailing (or motoring in our case) at 6 knots, we are actually only making a positive speed over ground (or SOG) of 3.3 knots. This is sort of comparable to walking to Sydney at a brisk pace. Today we had to concede that we would not make landfall on Monday May 21, and we have pushed our estimate back to May 23. Normally, we don't worry much about arrival dates, but we would like to get out of the Tasman before something spooky is cooked up in the "Weather Kitchen".

With every setback you can always find a brighter side, and on Wednesday night the light winds were directly correlated to our stomachs. This can be expressed mathematically as (light wind = LW) and (Scott's Stomach = SS) when combined they equal (Barbecued Tequila Chicken or BBTC), so now you can always remember that LW+SS=BBQTC. Okay, maybe I am getting just a little stir crazy out here, but the barbecued chicken was yummy! Pam had herself a BIG FAT steak. As it turns out our little freezer looses its efficiency when it starts to get low on contents and this gave us extra motivation for our unconventional sea-becue. I bet I looked a little silly out on deck with my PFD and tether on, with spatula in hand, wearing a headlamp. What a difference from meals like the purple corn beef hash concoction we tried to convince ourselves to eat in the ITCZ. Sorry Nemo, none for you tonight!

Thursday was more of the same, light winds with the engine droning on in the background as our only source of making way. Since we were not heeled over and we were plodding along at a speed of 3 knots I decided to try my luck at fishing. After finally catching two fish at Great Barrier Island (New Zealand) I was primed for the hunt and eager to feed the fish queen some sushi. The imperial seafood goddess even dawned her "I heart sushi!" T-shirt for good luck and inspiration. Bottom line though - fish 1 and Starship 0. Not even a nibble and I tried at least five different lures that are marketed as "sure to catch a big one". Poor fish mama had to settle with cheeseburger pie, which turned out to be a hit.

Thursday night was mostly spent motoring with an early morning attempt at sailing. As it turns out 2.5 knots of boat speed slowly built to 4 and the wind clocked around to northeast, giving us a nice push towards the Australian coast. For the first time in days "Big Red" gets a break and we returned to the world of wind powered propulsion. During the morning "Rag of the Air" net we reported our position as having made 75 miles of progress, an improvement of about 50 miles over the day before. The net controller told us "that's what you get when you put your sails up", what a smart a_S!

The other item of note that came out of the morning radio net was the report of a cyclone in the vicinity of the Tasman and Coral Seas. You never want to hear the word cyclone used in the same ocean you are currently sailing on. As it turns out the storm is almost 1,000 miles away and traveling away from us. But for a second there I had thoughts of Dorothy flying over the rainbow, in her little house, with the Wicked Witch looking through her window while riding on her broomstick and cackling.

That's it for today's Tasman tale!

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