Day 12, Ascension Island to Grenada

1300Z 03JUN22, Day 12, Ascension Island to Grenada. We are still sailing (for now). The next 36 hours should see us across the ITCZ so any portion we can continue to sail above about 3kts, we will take! One forecast suggests we might be able to sail it all, but really they all look like we will need to motor for 12-24 hours at least, maybe more.

Current Position: 03 55N / 033 20W
24 hour progress: 112nm, 4.7kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 1449nm, approximately 1758nm to Grenada. We sailed a broad reach for the past 24 hour period. First on the genoa and then on the asymmetric. All with the full main up.

Yesterday, after the log/blog entry and around midday, we caught a durado, but sadly we were unable to get the fish aboard. We didn't even get it alongside. What a morale crusher. From being excited that lunch arrived right at lunch time to needing to make something else instead.

The winds continued to be stronger than forecast. We continue to hope that engine start time remains some time away. Yesterday evening, after dinner and around sunset, we put up the asymmetric. We kept sailing a broad reach, so we left all of the main up and took whatever course we could get sailing with the chute and full main. We had a touch more north to our course than we wanted, but our speeds were decent and the engine remained off.

The cloud cover burned off shortly after yesterday's log entry so we did get some solar power for the day. And it is sunny this morning for more solar. Solar is now our strongest source of power thanks to all the sargassum weed. The Watt&Sea doesn't turn well when there is weed on the prop. It is a constant job of clearing weed from the W&S, the centerboard and the dagger boards. Downwind means less wind through the wind generator. So Solar is where we get power these days.

And speaking of power, Nike is sucking down power. She is back to giving us a "sensor missing" error and occasionally making lots of rudder inputs. All this means that she is power hungry and we are struggling to feed her (and the refrigerator). When the engine comes on, power will go back up and chores will be tackled.

This morning, we caught (and landed) a dorado! Megan was sleeping and the whole boat was rallied to assist with the "Fish On!" call. It was 0730am on Zephyros, so a bit early for meals unless someone wanted sushi for breakfast. Jon and Daxton got the fish aboard and Daxton got a lesson in filleting. Megan prepped ceviche to rest in the fridge until lunch time and Ronan babysat Nike and the "sensor missing" error that needed to be acknowledged and steerage reset to a broad reach.

Morale has definitely rebounded with today's fishing success right on the heels of yesterday's disappointment. Ceviche for lunch and fish tacos for dinner! All great news as our fresh meat supply is dwindling away. (Note for the photo, it is HOT. Daxton is in long pants and long sleeves to shield himself from the sun; he seems to be breaking out if he gets too much sun. The outfit is not indicative of cooler weather!!!)