Second leg
We finally have WiFi again, so I’m belatedly posting a few blogs I wrote during our passage…
It took us twelve days to sail from St. Helena to the Brazilian island of Fernando de Noronha
The second leg of our journey took at least a day longer than anticipated, thanks to relatively light winds during the passage combined with the loss of our largest headsail a few days into the trip. Chaffing of lines (ropes) is a major concern on sailing vessels, and, although we’d been taking preventative action, we didn’t dodge the bullet.
One morning at the crack of dawn (on Pete’s watch and not mine, thank goodness!), the line holding up our headsail snapped, and the sail tumbled into the sea, dragging underneath our still-in motion boat. Pete sounded the alarm, and we jumped out of bed to assist. We were able to recover the sail, but it was too severely torn to be usable as-is or to repair with our onboard sewing machine. After assessing the situation, we were able to jury-rig a solution to hoist another (albeit smaller) headsail and were once again on our way. (For the non-sailors reading this, a headsail is the sail in front of the mainsail. Depending on sailing conditions, the headsail can be used alone or in conjunction with the mainsail.)
Later in the voyage, Captain Dunbar valiantly ascended the mast in an attempt to retrieve and replace the damaged line, but the seas were too rough. The mast was rocking back and forth like a pendulum with Dunbar along for the scary and dangerous ride, so we called it off. (When we reached Fernando de Noronha, we again hoisted Dunbar into the sky, but the broken line was jammed in the mast and wouldn’t budge up or down.) With two working headsails and our mainsail remaining, we still had plenty of viable sail options for the remainder of our passage – we were just missing our ideal sail for sailing downwind in lower wind conditions.
The crossing itself from St. Helena and Fernando de Noronha was…quiet. We didn’t see any ships, airplanes, seabirds, or even sea life except for flying fish for days on end. At one point, we were closer to the astronauts in the international space station than to anyone on land – a mind-boggling consideration! We relished the warmer weather (no more down puffies!) while working our watches, changing sails, undertaking daily cleaning and maintenance projects, reading books, and playing Rummikub and the occasional backgammon. One day we dropped sail and went swimming with 10,000 feet of ocean below us – it kinda made me gulp, despite my rational mind knowing that the extreme depth really didn’t matter!
Pete’s getting quite skilled at catching and filleting fish! We’ve had some delicious ceviche and grilled fish dinners with the tuna and mahi-mahi he caught. In the meantime, I’ve been experimenting with crafting meals using minimal fresh fruits and veggies, although I’m running low on creative ways to dress up cabbage salad! Throughout it all, we’ve enjoyed some incredible sunsets and beautiful star-filled nights under a full moon, marveling at the bioluminescence streaming by like candles floating in the water.
We’re almost there! Upon our arrival, Pete and I can each add another continent to our list: just as Cape Town was our first time ever in Africa, Brazil will be our first visit to South America!
