Every morning we have a couple of large birds of the Albatros/Shearwater family visit the boat. They circle as if to prepare for a carrier landing, but divert to another airport after a couple of aborted attempts. Impressive, as we are at least 550 miles (about 900km) from the nearest land.
Position 13° 12.645′ N 62° 12.001′ E
COG 279T
SOG 5.6kt
wind NNE 18-22kt, Seas around 1m
Position 13° 06.451′ N 62° 56.790′ E
COG 276T
SOG 6.5kt
Log 8,628 nm
Engine 143.0 h
Winds averaged 20 to 25 knots from NNE all afternoon, gusting to 28 knots at times. Not too surprisingly, the sea state has become lumpy with breaking waves on the beam – we rolled so much as I was typing this that my iPad changed screen orientation! Still making 7 knots with 3 reefs and only 25 percent of headsail showing. Made for a spectacular sunset though.
Position 13° 03.409′ N 63° 17.326′ E
COG 278T
SOG 6.3kt
Found about 10 litres of sea water in the bilge, as we did on approaching Sri Lanka in similar beam sea conditions. Thought it was the bilge pump outlets but crawled into the transom this afternoon to get a first hand look. Realised its a design flaw of the deck where water runs round from the high gunwale and into the transom vent/blower outlet resulting in a small waterfall back there. Running repair effected and bilges mopped out.
Position 13° 03.409′ N 63° 17.326′ E
COG 278T
SOG 6.3kt