DAY 7 MILESTONE

DAY 7 MILESTONE 1955 nautical miles to go

 

Last night we had a favourable wind and  current change leading to good progress towards our destination of the Marquesa Islands. Only 1,955nautical miles left to sail (about 2 more weeks at our current speed).   Ian spent most of the night on watch avoiding squalls as our radar decided to stop working again when we most needed it. He had to scan the darkness to try and estimate where the next squall would hit and reef the sails accordingly.   Luckily our generator started without objection this morning so we have kept it running.  We also put the watermaker on for a few hours to top up our tanks so we could at least have a daily freshwater shower.  We soon went back to our routine of making meals and reading books.  In the afternoon we had a welcome visit from a pod of huge dolphins that were hunting alongside Faraway.  We could see the flying fish desperately trying to leap out of their way in all directions.  One thing that really amazed us being so far away from land was how the small birds that appeared next to us every day managed to complete such a long migration journey.  We had no idea where they came from or where they were headed. Our next milestone is tomorrow morning when we are due to leave the area of uncertain weather conditions at 108 degrees west.  The next big event will be mid week when we reach the half way point.  It will be quite amazing to know we are on the final stretch (all be it really long).  This journey will make trips between Bora Bora and the Cook Islands etc... seem like a short walk.

 

We check around the deck 2 times a day looking for damage/ chafe/ wear and tear.  So far we have none which is good -lets hope it continues.  We try not to leave things in the same position too long.  The wind is becoming more easterly so we will leave the beam reach today and put the sail on the whisker pole and attempt to run down wind.

 

There were no fish or squid on deck today.  As Ian was leaving the deck a large flying fish launched itself into the air-narrowly missed Ian and crashed onto the deck in front of him.  It was gasping for breath and its eyes were bulging out of its haed.  Ian gently picked it up and launched back to sea.  It brought a new meaning to beware of the dangers on deck.

 

Hope you all had a nice weekenfd on land!!!