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Ascension Island to Fernando de Noronha (Brazil)…..Day 6.7

June 28th, written from the anchorage on June 29th, 2013 (Western Hemisphere) Time: -2 on GMT

Yesterday morning, we set the full main and genoa on a port tack beam/broad reach. The wind predictions were from the NE, but a few hours later, the rains
came constantly all day and the winds went to the NW!!! That made us very close hauled, but laying the island. Eventually, the winds actually went WEST and we had to
motor through those areas. The swell was from three directions (shades of the Indian Ocean), but we knew it would be a short lived and local phenomenon.

We approached the island around mid night and fortunately, the skies we\’re clearing, the wind down to 3 knots and the swell quite comfortable.

This island is a National Marine Park of Brazil and as such, there is only one place on the island we\’re allowed to anchor. San Antonio Bay is actually a pretty little spot and reminds me of a Yasawa Island in shape and size like we found in Fiji as well as the spires of Ua Pou in the Marquesas. Add a little Kelefesia from Tonga and you have….Fernando de Noronha.

\”This Side Up\” arrived the day before we did and did some engine and traveler repairs. Despite a light air prediction, they headed out for Forteleza this morning which should be a three day, two night sail. We\’re anxious to hear about their experience as the marina there has \”mixed reviews\” to say the least.

It is Saturday here and we hope what we\’ve found is the exception rather than the rule. There are 15 party boats out. Some playing music that is so bad and so loud a 13 year old would cringe. The speaker system sounds like something out of the 1930\’s and I have no idea how the tourists aboard can tolerate it. It is giving me a pounding headache and I\’m 100 yards away. No one aboard could possibly carry on a conversation. We shall see…hopefully, it\’s a Saturday affair.

We\’ve also noted that fireworks, even in the middle of the day are shot off near their small marina. Again, we have no idea why? It\’s not a visual delight and the noise is….well, just that – noise.

The reputation of this island is \”Eco Tourism\” at it\’s finest and we can certainly see why that should be. There are apparently some world class white sand beaches here and at Isla Rata, one of the supposed world\’s finest surfing spots. I doubt there would ever be a crowd at the break, that\’s for sure. This entire island is only 5 1/2 miles long and at most 2 miles wide. The water is 80 deg F (27 deg C) and the air is 87 deg F (29 deg C). We\’re only 200 miles south of the Equator. We\’ll cross the Equator after we leave Forteleza.

We got a pretty good nights sleep and we\’ll try and go ashore later this afternoon.
Don\’t be strangers and drop us a note!
More from Fernando as we discover…
Final Stats: 1237 miles sailed on a Rhumb Line of 1100 miles. We averaged 7.75 knots for the sailed mileage. The trip took 6 days 14 hours. And remember, \”Your mileage may vary\”….:-)
KIT,
Scott and Nikki

Ascension Island to Fernando de Noronha, Braill…..Day 6

June 27th, written the morning of June 28th, 2013 (Western Hemisphere) Time: -1 on GMT

Yesterday was a bit frustrating. The squalls were all around and for the most part they would take the wind away.
The short bursts would get us to put up the spinnaker and then a huge shift would have us heading toward anywhere but where we wanted to go.
So we only sailed about 6 hours yesterday and motored the rest. As soon as Nikki\’s up, we\’ll again set sail as the NEasterly has kicked in and we\’ll
be able to reach across it (we hope) over the last day of this trip.

We did 177 nm yesterday and we\’ve 135 to go. Despite the possible frustration of wind and shifts, we should be in by tomorrow morning.

Other than the rain squalls, clouds and wind shifts, not much to report. That is not necessarily a bad thing…:-)

Nikki uses her IPAD nightly and explores the stars with her star program; she enjoys the night sky.

KIT,
Scott and Nikki

Ascension Island to Fernando de Noronha Island, Brazil…..Day 5

June 26th, written the morning of June 27th, 2013 (Western Hemisphere) Time: -1 on GMT

We ran with the spinnaker on starboard tack all day yesterday. This was a pretty neat feat as we really didn\’t seem to have enough wind to
do so. We were making speeds in the 7-9 knot range with only 12 knots of wind on a tight beam reach. Miss Piggy rocks!
We do seem to have a nice current of up to occasionally 1.5 knots helping. It sure beats the alternative.

So far, we\’ve been escaping the squalls; that is until this morning. Between 4-6 a.m. we had three and there was just no avoiding them. The problem is that they are
\”Wind Thieves and Rain Makers\”. Sometimes squalls really give a boost to the wind, indeed, more than we want. This area at this time seems to do just the opposite.
Of course when they come, the direction changes and it can be a bit of a Chinese Fire Drill while adjusting course and sails.

Two things happened yesterday that we\’re really cool. First, on the sailing side, we had a great spinnaker run AND we figured out (mostly) how to get our auto pilot to act like a wind vane. This means that instead of sailing a straight line, the boat actually will go left and right to keep the sails adjusted to the wind. Despite the \”straight line\” sounding better idea, this can cause the crew to have to make frequent sail adjustments. With the \”wind mode\”, it just adjusts the boat to keep the sails trimmed. We had to alter some settings like \”wind shift\” was too tight and the damping on the wind sensitivity was too quick. Once we got that tweaked, it sailed in light air for hours without our touching much.

The next thing was a wonder of nature. Last night when I came on watch at midnight, I noticed phosphorescence in the wake of our twin hulls. On closer inspection, I realized these were MILLIONS (no exaggeration) of jelly fish. Between 6 inches and 24 inches in diameter. The bioluminescence of plankton \”inside\” their clear bodies looked like the ocean was full of stars. This went on for 3 hours and I don\’t know how long it was going on before I noticed it! Imagine, we moved over 24 miles in that period of time and it was non stop. We can only guess how wide to our left and right this phenomenon reached. We could only see about 50 feet to each side and it was truly an unforgettable sight. It reminded me of many of the reasons I began this voyage with Cindy. She would have loved it. Nikki was enthralled and watched for long periods of time. It was so thick, I was concerned the water maker or the generator might have sucked some up as we\’ve had tiny krill clog our strainers before. The good news was, upon inspection, all was clear.

We\’ve been motoring for about two hours, but the squalls are clearing and our slight wind seems to be returning. Hopefully we\’ll be sailing within the hour.

REMEMBER, NIKKI\’S SHORE SIDE EMAIL IS NOT FORWARDING TO THE BOAT BECAUSE OF A TECHNICAL GLITCH. SO IF YOU WANT TO EMAIL HER, DO SO DIRECTLY TO THE BOAT.
AND YES SANDRA, SHE DID GET YOUR MAIL AND WILL WRITE SOON…:-)
KIT,
Scott and Phosphoresent Nik

Ascension to Fernando de Noronha Island (Brazil)…..Day 4

June 26th, written the morning of June 27th, 2013 (Western Hemisphere) Time: -1 on GMT

A most interesting day. It started with just enough wind not to have me put up the spinnaker and lasted that way till around 2 p.m. local time.
Then the winds started to drop into the mid teens and we decided to \”pop chute\”… Right after we did this, our first (and so far), only rain squall came by.
Beach House got a nice freshwater bath and the seas started to flatten out in the rain. We were honking along at 9 knots on a beam/broad reach on starboard tack.

Right after the rain, the wind got really light and we thought we might even have to motor! We gave it the \”10 minute rule\” (that is, wait 10 minutes to see what happens before making any changes), the wind came back and we\’ve been off to the races ever since. Yesterday, I figured out that we didn\’t have enough dagger board in the water to assist the steering to track easily. The dagger boards are our version of a keel without weight. Mostly, we use them up wind, but they greatly help in proving a \”foil\” surface for the rudders to work against in steering. We\’ve been sailing a pretty steady course ever since. Prior to that, Nikki and I had to make course corrections way too often with the auto pilot and it wasn\’t very restful and hard on the gear (hydraulic auto pilot pumps) as well.

First thing yesterday, we went to make coffee and discovered the stove\’s \”safety switch\” which detects propane leaks was not working. We had this happen last season and I had a voltage converter (24-12 volts) to fix it in spares. No such spare now and it again WAS the culprit as determined by our using a Volt/Ohm Meter.
Since the system is intrinsically 12 volt to start with, Nikki and I found an appropriate open breaker at the panel and just moved it. Voila, works like magic!

No ships last night, but what a night. Flat water, wind on the beam (at only 10-14 knots), the current behind us and we\’ve really been having \”that sail\” everyone sees in Cruising World Magazine on the cover every month….. It was very humid just before yesterdays rain squall but despite the outside temperature being 81 deg F (28 deg C), and the humidity at 94%!, it\’s actually pretty comfortable. We\’ll see around noon however.

We just received an email from old friends Jim and Pat on s/v \”Wetnose\” out of Marina del Rey, California. They just arrived at Fakarava Atoll in the Tuamotus after a 2600 mile passage from New Zealand skirting the Southern Ocean. A tough sail (they hove too for 3 days in a 50 knot gale), but they have arrived in paradise.

Fakarava was an absolute high light for me and Cindy. Diving there with the huge schools of Gray Reef Sharks was amazing and if you\’ve never seen it, go into the original website at my home page on the bottom left. Inside, go to the videos and look for the 3 minute or so video to music, \”The Sharks of Fakarava\”. It was a fabulous place and I wish we\’d spent many more days there.

We ended up having a good days run of 175 nm due to running the spinnaker for the last 14 hours and we\’re still at it. \”Jongilanga\” is about 220 miles behind us. Hard to believe as he left 3 hours before us! \”This Side Up\” is about 265 miles ahead of us, we\’re closing, but won\’t catch him and \”OZ\”, en route from St. Helena is about 900 miles back. We\’re having good success on our mini/daily radio net on 8137 USB. We share our positions, boat speed and current and past 24 hour weather conditions.

John on \”Jongilanga\” and Mike on \”This Side Up\” have no ability to get weather updates, so I give them too them on our net. I\’ll help Steve on \”OZ\” a bit as he\’s having radio to shore side connection issues. He\’s in between the two sailmail stations he can connect to via HF Radio. I get lazy and use the Satelite Telephone for weather a great deal as the files can be a bit big.

No more Flying Fish stories, but we are seeing lots of them. We\’ve been very fortunate on missing the squally areas so far and are continuing north of the Rhumb Line to try and avoid more. The winds should actually start to go ENE then NE before we reach Fernando due to a very weak low pressure system that will form to our south and east. 470 miles to go and we should arrive \”some time Saturday\” if all remains as it has been. A very pleasant 175 nm day, go Miss Piggy go!

KIT,
Scott and Nikki

Ascension Island to Ferndando de Norohna (Brazil)……Day 3

June 24th, written the morning of June 25th, 2013 (Western Hemisphere) Time: GMT

Yesterday the winds were fairly strong in the morning and our speed was good so we passed on putting up the spinnaker. It was an uneventful day until around 11 am a ship tripped off our AIS (Automatic Identification System). It was the \”VTR Dragon\”, a 550 foot cargo vessel en route to Rio de Janeiro.

At six miles we were effectively on a collision course and he didn\’t seem to notice us. I hailed him on the radio, he looked at his AIS and radar and said he would take our stern. He passed about a mile behind us and I still think it\’s amazing how low the odds are that two vessels in the middle of nowhere on a right angle course could be that close! We like our AIS and Radar and other navigation goodies aboard!

Last night, for the second night in a row, we saw one ship. This one was about six miles astern and most likely a large commercial fishing vessel. The previous nights was quite strange. It was about 400++ feet and it\’s decks completely lit up. It was not moving, did not display an AIS signal. It had \”RAM\” lights (restricted in ability to manuever) which actually gave it the right of way over us. He was about two miles away and I tracked him on radar to make sure he wasn\’t closing.

We passed uneventfully, but again, the middle of nowhere and two vessels are pretty darn close. I assume he may have been a survey vessel given the \”RAM\” lights and his lack of movement. He did not appear to be fishing. With the full moon we\’ve had the last few nights, the horizon has been visible for at least six miles all around us.

Another Fish Story…..:-)
So last night at 5:30 in the morning, I\’m up in the saloon reading a book on watch and I hear Nikki scream. I quickly run down into her cabin and she\’s mutter something incoherently. I think she\’s having a bad dream. Finally she answers me and tells me \”Flying Fish\”! I turn on the light and indeed, a flying fish about 10 inches long has managed to \”fly\” right through the cabin ceiling hatch onto the bed. First of all, it\’s kicking all over the place shedding scales everywhere and second of all they are the WORST smelling fish imaginable. As many of you know, I don\’t eat fish and one of the primary reasons is I CAN\’T STAND THE SMELL. I quickly got a paper towel, picked the beast up and tossed it back over the side out the ceiling hatch. Most of them die on deck and are found in the morning. This one lucked out and got a reprieve. Of course the stench required the bedding to be immediately put in the laundry and it\’s now hanging up to dry.

My previous best flying fish story was that both Cindy and I were simultaneously flown into at night while at the helm. A sudden whack in the face followed by a flaying object on the cockpit sole let you know what happened, but the scaly stench comes off on you right away. A quick shower is often the solution. Thank goodness we\’ve plenty of hot water. So the brave \”fish girl\” from Norfolk had to be saved by the Captain. It\’s good for my ego anyway…:-)

We\’ve 632 miles to go, a 176 nm day and we may or may not put up the spinnaker. We\’ll be half way in about 10 hours and looking forward to the luxury/eco island. I have visions of \”Fantasy Island\”…We shall see.

KIT,
Scott and Fishy Nikki