Calm…..for the moment
May 29, 2010 Day 8
35 34.7 N 68 22 W
Hello Everybody,
Today is Ruleo’s 20th birthday, so I’ll start with the attention he garnered. The fun began at midnight when Dave and Brian convinced Leo to awaken Ruleo and be the first to wish him “Happy Birthday”. The quote was “Happy Birthday, Captain Morgan”, and the reason has to do with Ruleo’s attire the night before. As it began to get just slightly chilly Ruleo appeared for a night watch with a long sleeved shirt, shorts and his spiffy Dubarry boots. His watch mates dubbed him “Captain Morgan” after the picture of the pirate on the rum bottle. Once the sun rose and the whole crew got up it became apparent that Ruleo was COLD. The outdoor temperature was 67 and Ruleo, fisherman par excellence, determined that it was too cold to put out his team’s fishing line because he didn’t want to get his feet wet on the back deck if they caught a fish. Gradually the temperature rose until it got to the mid 80s in the afternoon. Then Ruleo took a shower on the back deck (wet feet and all) and retired to the shade of the dodger because it was too hot in the sun. The rest of us get a big kick out of this because what seems a totally normal range of temperatures and would require just an extra layer (sox perhaps or long pants or a sweatshirt) is so uncomfortable for Ruleo and the decision about what to put on is so foreign to him. He has to put up with a lot of good natured kidding. We had a gourmet birthday luncheon buffet and Ruleo had first choice (of the leftovers). He chose the lasagna, but the rotis, salad, chicken casserole, cucumbers and ice cream bars quickly disappeared with help from the rest of the crew. For dinner Ruleo selected shrimp scampi, a favorite of everyone. Fortunately by dinner time the wild seas had calmed and I was able to fulfill his wish. We rounded out dinner with an off key rendition of Happy Birthday accompanied by a fat emergency candle and chocolate cake and ice cream brought for the occasion from Antigua.
The wild weather calmed overnight. Jake and Leo got to roll out the Yankee and enjoyed a beautiful sail in the moonlight, but as the wind continued to drop they had to turn on the engine again. We’ve had it on ever since and gradually the seas flattened to almost calm except for a 3-4′ swell. The calmer seas and sunshine gave us a chance to make water, which we needed to do, and dry out damp clothes and towels. Apparently this will be the situation into Sunday, but then we’ll get wind again to cross the Gulf Stream. As I reported the temperature got into the upper 60s overnight and the watch was quite chilly. The water temperature had dropped to about 68 as well. Now, however, as we approach the stream the water temp is rising again, to 76 at the moment. Perhaps it won’t be so cold tonight. Usually it is comfortable crossing the stream, but the cold temperatures come for the last 24-36 hours north of the stream. We’re hoping for sunshine!
Today we had several visits from dolphin! Around mid day we had a pod of 20 or more feeding nearby. They were leaping, pirouetting and circling about 100 yards from the boat with fish jumping and birds circling. They paid no attention to us. Both Ruleo and I tried to get movies of them so we can put a link on the web site to show you how they look out here in the wild. Filming them is really difficult in the bright sun because you can’t see what you are filming–it’s the real definition of point & shoot (and cross your fingers). We had a second visit by about a dozen dolphin who wanted to play with the bow wave of the boat. Ruleo got some fine film of them underwater approaching the boat. The water is so clear that the dolphins look as if they are on the surface. Once we get home we’ll get the video on line, so please watch for it.
The day ended with a quick racor change (10 minutes tops). The engine indicated that it wasn’t getting good fuel, so we switched to the inline spare. Then, because the conditions are benign we changed the clogged filter so if there is another problem we can switch again. Of course that makes everyone wonder: why did we clog a filter? Bad fuel in Bermuda? Crud from the bottom of the tank shaken loose in the wild waves? In any case, we’ve had this 2 racor system for years and this is the first time we’ve ever had the opportunity to use it. Hurrah!
All the best from avalanche and her crew, hoping for a smooth Gulf Stream crossing and interesting wildlife as we climb up on the Continental Shelf on the way home.
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