Today has been a slow day. After almost 13 hours by motor from yesterday and through the night, the wind returned slightly with 10 knots allowing North Star to sail 4-5 knots. Unfortunately, this didn’t continue and we have been bopping along with 3-4 knots from late afternoon till evening. One quickly realizes how patience is a virtue in these situations. Instead we passed time with some more failed fishing attempts (we are determined to catch at least one tuna/mahi mahi!) – and once again a school of dolphins joined our sail. We have yet to spot whales, but hear on the radio that others have, so we are hopeful!
This afternoon we also uncovered an unpleasant surprise…our batteries…Batteries on a sailboat are quite essential for running the ship. Our ability to produce water, autopilot and every other system run on electricity. We got an error – batteries overheating. Then we spent six hours finding the error. We maybe identified the error but did not fix it. And then later just before midnight the ship became dark and then light and the “thing” had reset itself and now it seems all is back to normal. Yes that is also life on board, not always gin and tonic on the aft deck!
Unfortunately, according to the forecast the lack of wind will continue for the next 24 hours at least – so as we speak, we are discussing whether to turn on the motor. Waiting for the captain to wake up to decide…he sleeps after his battle with the batteries…
Position is 19 deg 58 N and 021 deg 52 W, cog is 213 deg and sog is 3-4 kn
Greeting from the Crew