Day 14, Atlantic Crossing

1230Z 31DEC18, Day 14, Atlantic Crossing. Two weeks at sea! Somewhere around a week to go. The past 24 hours or so have been a mixed bag. We did a lot of work in the morning changing the sail configuration. Then immediately afterwards it looked like we should change back. We decided to take a break and give it time. In the early afternoon things remained the same and we put the asymmetric back up. This significantly increased our speed. We reefed the main twice through the course of the day to try to flatten us out. We were doing well and cruising along. However in the night we hit a rain cell with sustained winds around 25kts. The sleeping crew (Jon) was awakened and we pulled down the asymmetric in the light rain. After that things were calm the rest of the night and speeds were slow in the light winds without the asymmetric up. There have been a couple of rain cells this morning after daylight yet the winds remained fairly low and shifty. The asymmetric got hoisted again once the crew was up and after the rain cells passed. So we are back up to some decent speed.

Current Position: 15 51.7N 044 16.5W
24 hour progress: 138nm, 5.75kts avg SOG, 1993nm total progress, approximately 970nm to go.

Everyone is doing fine. A bit of stir craziness has set in along with general tiredness. Both boys have been bickering and we tried to get them to nap yesterday which didn't work, unsurprisingly. Cooking dinner was an event as there was a lot of chopping on a rolling boat and it took quite awhile. Then both boys fell asleep before dinner was on the table; however, they woke up on the early side this morning. We will try to make the day interesting as a New Year's Eve treat. There have been daily games of Monopoly and some hangman yesterday. Perhaps today will be a movie marathon and/or more games. Oh, and Jon got to disassemble and rebuild the refrigerator circulator pump again resulting in at least some success.

Day 13, Atlantic Crossing

1230Z 30DEC18, Day 13, Atlantic Crossing. Yesterday afternoon we put up the asymmetric, brought down the main and sailed deeper downwind. The winds were light and the seas were pretty calm. In the evening the winds picked up a bit, but we continued with just the asymmetric. This morning with gusts hitting 30 knots we brought in the asymmetric, put out the jib and put up the main. Of course, now we haven't seen even 25kts again. Even so we have picked up the average speed which makes everything a bit better, even if things below are a bit more difficult.

Current Position: 15 55.9N 041 56.7W
24 hour progress: 149nm, 6.2kts avg SOG, 1855nm total progress, approximately 1100nm to go.

Everyone is doing well. We have decided that we will go to Martinique, instead of Barbados. This means that we added about a day, but we weren't hitting any kind of speed record anyway. Likely landfall is sometime next weekend - or later if we hit some slow spots that seem to be developing. At any rate the reason that we had planned to go to Barbados was to see other boat kids, but everyone is a week or more ahead of us so they will be gone. Next stops for most of them are St Lucia and Martinique so we will just go straight to Martinique and hope to meet up with other boat kids. Heaven knows Daxton (and therefore everyone) needs the interaction!

Zephyros milestone - our "odometer" hit 10,000 nm over night last night! Not bad for 15 months of sailing.

Time zones - CORRECTION: Barbados and Martinique are GMT -5 (not 4). So we will roll back 3 more times to get to the local time before we arrive.

Day 12, Atlantic Crossing

1230Z 29DEC18, Day 12, Atlantic Crossing. Yesterday afternoon cleared up to be sunny and warm. We were able to continue on the port tack into the night. This kept the refrigerator running and we made a good course. Once the winds shifted back to ENE we gybed back to the west. Over the course of the day yesterday we shook out all the reefs in the main and we put up the asymmetric. There was not much wind through the day and into the night. We swapped back to the regular jib when we gybed overnight and winds built back up to 15-20kts. Wind has shifted back to the east so we will gybe south again and get the refrigerator back on.

Current Position: 16 26.7N 039 34.4W
24 hour progress: 126nm, 5.25kts avg SOG, 1705nm total progress, approximately 1180nm to go.

Everyone is doing well. With the lower winds and slower speed yesterday things were very comfortable. The downside is that the slower speed pushes out our expected arrival date. The upside is that there was a monopoly game amongst Jon and the boys which the boys love. We expect the winds to pick back up and keep us moving through the 1st or 2nd when it may slow again.

We had the fishing line in again this morning and caught a small mahi-mahi which will be a poke lunch after awhile. We saw what looked like a school of tuna in the water - and the boys really want to get another tuna - so we put the line back in. We then caught a large mahi-mahi when we passed by a metal pallet. We actually saw quite a few fish in the water with one following just aft of our boat for about 10 seconds. Unfortunately we didn't get the big beautiful mahi-mahi onboard. We should have gaffed him but we were busy and still cleaning the other smaller mahi-mahi. Oh well. Line is back in and we still have meat that needs to be eaten before it goes bad in the refrigerator.

Time zones: we don't really know what the formal delineation is and it really doesn't matter to us. We are aiming for Barbados and they are GMT -4. We left the Canaries which was GMT. We all stand informal watches during daylight hours and then Jon and I swap back and forth in the nighttime hours. So as we have moved west we move dinner to coincide with sunset and hope that the boys sleep until sunrise. Currently that means we have moved back our clocks twice and are functioning at GMT -2. We will change again in about 3 days and then one more time, 2-3 days later.

Day 11, Atlantic Crossing

1230Z 28DEC18, Day 11, Atlantic Crossing. Yesterday was sunny and warm. Today is grey and overcast. Winds were largely 20-25kts until the early morning hours when they dropped to 15-20kts. So far today, they are sitting around 20kts. We continue to sail with a full jib and partially reefed main. In the early morning hours we gybed south due to the wind direction, to stay in better wind and to run the refrigerator. Making 250T over ground.

Current Position: 17 18.1N 037 47.5W
24 hour progress: 147nm, 6.1kts avg SOG, 1579nm total progress, approximately 1295nm to go.

Everyone is doing well. The boys have been working on their schoolwork. They had fallen behind pace for where they should be in their math books. All the preparations to cross the Atlantic kept Jon and I distracted enough that they were able to put in minimal efforts. They have been working at it consistently in the crossing. We are all happy that they are catching up a bit. Jon and I have been doing lots of reading and typically take a nap or two throughout the day.

Day 10, Atlantic Crossing

1230Z 27DEC18, Day 10, Atlantic Crossing. We continue to see and pass through small rain cells. Yesterday afternoon we avoided most of them, just by luck. Overnight we passed through some of them. Winds have been 20-25kts with gusts of 30+ around the cells. We had Zephyros reefed up with 3 reefs in the main and a reef in the jib. With this configuration she sailed well and only minor adjustments were needed when passing near the cells. It is now sunny and clear and we are back to a full jib, sailing a broad reach. We gybed south due to wind angle and will gybe west again soon.

Current Position: 17 20.7N 035 23.7W
24 hour progress: 156nm, 6.5kts avg SOG, 1431nm total progress, approximately 1430nm to go. Grey and rainy with patches of sunshine and warm weather.

Everyone is doing well. We are now officially halfway mileage wise! The refrigerator continues to be an issue and major frustration. Keeping sufficient cooling water running has been problematic, and harder still when on a starboard tack heading west. We have thus far managed to keep it cold enough inside, hopefully we can continue to keep it going with cycling and constant oversight.

Day 9, Atlantic Crossing

1230Z 26DEC18, Day 9, Atlantic Crossing. Yesterday the winds were largely 15-20kts and we have started putting up better speed again. From the late afternoon through the first half of the night we were seeing gusts around 25kts or so which kicked up the seas a bit. Then the wind shifted to the east so the seas got a bit rolly, and were coming from 2 directions which is a bit uncomfortable. In the early morning hours, with the wind shifted, we gybed south to make a better course. A few hours later, we gybed back west. Around sunrise we started hitting small cells of accelerated winds and light rain. So, on we go from 15kts of wind to 30kts of wind back down to 15kts. We continue to sail a broad reaching making a general westerly course.

Current Position: 17 36.4N 032 54.9W
24 hour progress: 141nm, 5.9kts avg SOG, 1275nm total progress, approximately 1570nm to go. Grey and rainy with patches of sunshine. We have seen ends of rainbows a few times.

Everyone is doing well. We figure we are getting somewhere close to the half way point time wise, but not quite mileage wise yet. The trade winds look to be consistent and perhaps on the strong side for nearly all of the rest of the trip. So we are hopeful that we can put up some more big mileage days and make good progress.

Cat update (as requested): they are doing well. Athena has found a corner that she likes and has hunkered down there. She comes out at meal times and to get water and to say hello, but when things are rolly she's been sleeping in her spot. Back on the slow and calm days (23&24 Dec) she was all over the place - hanging out in the pilot house, laying outside and looking for lots of attention. Now she is back to her spot. Poseidon is just chilling out. He was a bit sick and drooling the first day which is normal for him. But after that he has been fine. He's been just as interested in food as always and he's been hanging out with everyone. At night he likes to sleep with the boys and in the day he'll hide in the bed Jon and I use at sea. He has a corner that he likes and stretches out across the pillow in the corner. He also lays on his back under the table and stretches out in the bathroom on the floor which is where we keep their water dish. So basically they are both being normal cats - perhaps sleeping a bit more than usual, but happy and content.

Day 8, Atlantic Crossing

1230Z 25DEC18, Day 8, Atlantic Crossing. Merry Christmas!!! The winds have been up and down. Yesterday we sailed with the asymmetric throughout the day. We swapped it for the genoa for the night because the winds were pushing 20kts around sunset. However, after dark the winds fell back down and have largely been 10-15kts. It's all fine as the seas are very mild and easy. We just go slower without the asymmetric up in these conditions. After sunrise, the winds were back to 15kts more consistently, so we have picked up some speed. We are broad reaching making a westerly course.

Current Position: 18 02.7N 030 42.5W
24 hour progress: 123nm, 5.1kts avg SOG, 1134nm total progress, approximately 1700nm to go. Another lovely weather day.

Christmas Eve afternoon saw us baking some cookies. Dinner was left overs as the baking encroached into dinner preparation time, but the food was delicious especially with sweet potato muffins and Christmas cookies. We exchanged gifts (as is our tradition) in the evening. Gifts were minor as the sailing adventure and all of our travel experiences are the real gift. There is, however, a new swing for the boat that everyone is excited about and that has been tried out in the cockpit this morning.

Christmas morning included LEGO sets from Santa and treats in stockings (which were the kids oversized socks that we bought when we went up to the snow on Mount Etna). Fishing line is out and the day is off to a good start.

Merry Christmas everyone from the Zephyros Crew!!!