AT SEA TO THE MARQUESAS
Day 2, Saturday, March 20, 2010
(Position at 1500 UTC: N.07 degrees 56.62' W.085 degrees 18.68')

So, we've been two full nights at sea now, and will have been underway 48
hours by late this afternoon (in the counting of the days I won't include
the first afternoon). We have rapidly settled into watchkeeping with its
attendant disturbed sleep. We keep three-hour watches but if one of us
feels still awake enough he/she will stay on a bit longer and let the
other get some deep REM sleep. I can stretch to four hours at night but
then my eyes get very heavy.

The heat from the engine is bearable, but of course it is ripening the
fresh fruits and vegetables much faster than we should like. Soft fruits
like mangos or bananas are really hard to keep so we have to eat them as
quickly as possible. This is no chore since I love mangos; the ones we
have are huge. We have not yet started in on the six or eight pineapples,
which I hope will ripen over time and not all at once.

We are still motor-sailing (main and staysails). There is a very weak wind
but it is from the W and that is the direction we are travelling at
present. The first waypoint is at the equator at W128 degrees (The Galapagos
by comparison are at about W90 degrees), some 2,600 Nm still away. It seems
strange to be steering W, but I suppose the GPS is giving us a great-circle
route). The weather probs had told us not to expect winds until we are 2-
300 Nm out from Costa Rica. Then we might hope to pick up NE Trades. But,
no deal so far.

The night watches are balmy. There was lightening to the SE in the
distance, so we are probably skirting the doldrums to the north. The days
begin slightly cloudy but clear up by 0830 or 0900. Since we do not have a
cockpit bimini (shade), we wear long-sleeved cotton pyjamas and broad sun
hats when in the cockpit in the tropical sun. We wouldn't win any fashion
shows, but at least we aren't burnt to a crisp. Fortunately from the
comfort point of view, as we motor along at 3.5 to 4 knots, we are headed
almost directly into the weak breeze, so it is tolerably cool. None of
Golfito's humid suffocating heat, thank goodness!

The sea is dark blue, almost purple, the water clear as you look down into
it. Kathleen said there was a light moving parallel to us for most of her
early morning watch, but it eventually dropped behind. A fisherman? A
drug-runner? Coasties? We saw two huge container ships at 6-8 miles
yesterday. But other than this light, nothing. When the sun comes up the
horizon is totally empty. The high point yesterday were a pair of minke
whales that, totally ignoring my right of way, passed so close in front of
us that I had to pop the bungee cords on the tiller and steer behind them
to avoid a collision. We frequently see large pods of dolphins (grey
bellies) jumping out of the water and tearing off in one direction or the
other. At some point they must be having a feeding frenzy because the
waters are so churned up. Then, off they go. Neither the whales nor the
dolphins seem to have any interest in a passing sailboat.

We seemed to be taking quite a bit of water, I had noticed. I had a look
at the stuffing gland and noticed far more water than normal dripping from
it. For the moment we pump frequently, but when we finally get some wind
and the engine can be switched off and cooled down, I shall get in there
behind the engine with the two big pipe wrenches and tighten things up
again.

At least the water in the bilge is not a sign that our drinking-water
tanks have sprung a leak! Kathleen enforces such frugalness with fresh
water that I feel guilty just drinking it. We have about 80 U.S. gallons
aboard but who knows how long it must last. Now that we have one or two
empty one-gallon jugs, we fetch in saltwater for kitchen tasks, and we
even cooked potatoes, carrots, onions and garlic in seawater last evening. A
trifle salty, but otherwise fine. We do have an emergency watermaker, and
when we have some larger empty jugs we shall soon give it a try. If we get
heavy rain, we can also try catching water using the sun awning or the
mainsail cover slung under the main boom. This will require some
experimentation, however.

I am sure that the fuel in our tanks is contaminated again. I did use
biocide and a diesel conditioner. I also added Startron Enzyme additive
which should stabilise the fuel (diesel fuel begins to break down after 90
days or so) and its enzymes should eat up the bacterial growth.
Fortunately, we have lots of fuel filters with us and ready to hand. I
noticed that when we were running on the starboard tank, our performance
was much worse. When the engine is cooled down I shall change the filters
again.

Finally, the electronic tiller pilot seems to have a mind of its own. It
will be happily steering the boat for an hour or so and then suddenly
start emitting loud beeps of protest. We play with it for a while, but
cannot make it stay on the job for long. We refer to bungee cords to keep
the boat on course. Of course, this means being in the cockpit except for
quick trips below or forward on deck; the bungee cords are not reliable
enough. Fortunately, except for the two rain squalls on the first evening,
the weather especially at night has been super. When we finally get some
wind we can start sailing and use the Cap Horn windvane steering. Kathleen
promises that we shall have NE Trades 10-15 knots today or tomorrow.

Otherwise, nothing to report. It is so far just like a cruise should be:
uneventful with lots of time to catch up on the old new Yorkers and
Harpers magazines and get into a couple of novels.

Position at 2100 UTC: N. 7 degrees 44.87' W. 085 degrees 30.95. Under sail at
3-4 knots. Light W breeze, calm seas.