Day 16, Atlantic Crossing

1230Z 02JAN19, Day 16, Atlantic Crossing. Yesterday we had very little wind and we motored all day. We are hoping that we can be back to sailing today though it is a slow start. Around 1030Z we secured the engine (ran for 35.4 hours this round) and are hopeful that it can stay off for awhile. The weather suggests we should get out of this dead wind zone at some point today. On the plus side, we make ok progress on the motor, especially compared to 3-4kts trying to sail in 8-10kts of wind. We are very happy we changed the prop cassette and got the bottom cleaned before crossing as our speed at reduced rpms is much improved.

Current Position: 15 42.3N 048 32.7W
24 hour progress: 126nm, 5.25kts avg SOG, 2244nm total progress, approximately 725nm to go.

The negative of the day was needing to run on the engine. Otherwise is was a great day ringing in the New Year. We had two excellent fish meals and still have some mahi-mahi left. The weather was warm - 87F (30C) with a water temp of 75F (25C). By the afternoon, we were all quite warm and we decided to turn off the engine for a bit to ring in the New Year with a "polar plunge". At 75F this was a plunge that even Jon, our warm water swimmer, was happy to complete. Atlantic Ocean, New Year's Day, skinny dipping checked off the bucket list for the human crew!!! The cats weren't interested it seems.

The boys got Jon to play monopoly with them again and I made a pumpkin pie. So all the kid's baking requests and related "passage bingo" squares for the crossing have been completed (muffins, cookies and pie)! Other highlights of the day included dolphins playing at our bow and seeing our first sailboat in around 2 weeks. We chatted with them on the radio for a few minutes and wished them a Happy New Year.

All is well. The cats have been active in the calm seas and motoring, because in warm weather you definitely need lap cats!