Emma made playdough (her own recipe of oil, lemon juice, flour, water and salt cooked until firm) getting it to a good consistency so that she and Macsen could build little ornaments and figures. She loves making goopy things. We were also able to have another full school day with somewhat fewer complaints than when we are on land. The monkies are generally relatively good about school but they do whine a bit to get it over with when there is swimming, playing with friends and running about to be done. Seems rather a desperate measure to take your kids to sea to minimize distractions…but it does seem to work.
We went through a small squall early this morning with winds rising to 28 knots and a little rain but reduced sail and were soon through it. The waves have become larger and the wind has picked up slightly but we are still sailing comfortably. The period of the swell is so long that you hardly feel the boat being lifted and dropped although we are traveling up and down >3 meters every few seconds. To date we have been heading in a more southerly direction to pick up the trade winds and give ourself a better angle on the wind. We have just gybed onto our rhumbline for Paramaribo and are wing and wing going a steady 7-7.5 knots. Wooohooo!
Day 3: Atlantic Crossing
Date: December 10, 2017
Time 12:00 UTC
Position 13’07.323N / 30’26.483W
COG/SOG: 255 degrees / 7-7.5kn
Trip distance: 404nm
Distance to go: 1524nm
24h distance: 144nm
Cabin temp: 29.0C
Sea temp: 22.8C
Conditions: sunny with some clouds, wind NE 19-22kn, sea moderate Sails: full main and genoa one reef (starboard now) wing-wing
Helen Thomas 11/12/2017
Such an adventure. It will an excellent Christmas present to know you are safely there xxxx