Frustrating Day because the wind died and of course I've used up my spare diesel so I am just trying to sail as best I can in very light wind. What happens for anyone who doesn't know, is that the wind just manages to fill the sails and they jerk out and yank the sheets (ropes OK?) and clang goes the fitting on the deck and then the sail collapses and the fitting bangs again and then the boom swings back and forth noisily...and you wander off the course you're trying to follow and then a bit of breeze arrives and you think oh at last heres the wind and, wow we're doing 3 knots and three minutes later it dies completely just as you were about to go and get some water so you rearrange the Hydrovane and the sail slaps back and forth and the fitting on the deck clangs a few more times and then you see there's still absolutely no wind at all but there's a little zephyr stirring the water about 10 feet from the boat and wonder why the hell arent we in that bit of breeze....and so it goes. And all the while youre telling yourself the wind will kick in any minute.
And then I went to check email and couldnt get the Pactor Modem to work. I couldnt download email or send email or get weather reports. I turned it all off and tried again. I restarted the computer and tried again and still nothing would work. So finally I dug around and found the CD that the software is on and reloaded it and it seems to be working. Well its working if youre reading this but just be on notice - next time it goes bung on me I might not be so lucky.
So just in case this is the last message from me, I expect to be going around North Cape on Sunday and hopefully arriving in the Bay of Islands on Monday. However if the wind stays like this I might be here till next christmas. Everything is fine with the boat.
And one bit of exciting news : I saw an Albatross several times this morning, absolutely incredible bird. It made all the hassles seem trivial.
Sapphire Out
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