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| Sunrise on Julie's shift |
Day 294, Saturday April 12th
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| Sunrise or sunset?? they look the same |
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| Sadly we had to turn on the motor. Look how calm the Atlantic is |
Well our overnight sail was excellent. The morning finds us well along our passage,
actually ahead of schedule as the lift from the Gulf Stream was more than we had
planned on. However with the dawn the
winds start to leave us and we are forced to start the iron genny (motor),
which is sad, around 10 in the morning.
It is so peaceful sailing with just the noise of the wind. We end up motor sailing most of the day. We have been heading in a northwest direction
and by morning we are nearing the western edge of the Gulf Stream. Our first 24 hours we have managed to complete 2/3rds of the journey due to the current and great
winds. Now the little wind we have is on
the nose so we can’t even motorsail. We consider staying in the Gulf stream and
heading further north to Charleston, but our buddy boats are not interested in
going further north at this time so we stick with the group. We have been told Fernandina Beach and nearby
Cumberland Island are a must see.
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| Enjoying the calm |
Some dolphins come to visit us during the day which is
thrilling as always. As the day
progresses the Atlantic Ocean gets quieter and quieter until the surface is
smooth. There are still swells but they
are down to less than 3 feet and are smooth.
Not very often the ocean is this peaceful. We would have liked a bit more wind to sail,
but we sure feel safe out here with the calmness. We are only managing about 5 knots an hour
now, but that is okay as we are ahead of schedule and prefer to arrive in
daylight vs. darkness to our destination.
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| Full moon |
The day stays calm and we are even able to play some
dominoes as we cruise along. Soon enough
nightfall comes and we are faced with our second night of sailing. The moon is even brighter as we have a 95%
moon tonight. The night is absolutely
magical as we move slowly along our way to our destination. We are braver tonight as we are sleeping down
below when not on shift.
It is a really cool experience. We both really enjoy these passages.
Cheers
Julie and Dawson
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