1800 miles down, 150 to go

It’s already the 9th and last full day at sea. We expect, with a high degree of certainty, to reach the fairway buoy sometime tomorrow morning. After that it’s still a decent stretch up the river, but we’ll be there in plenty of time for a few Djogos with bitterballen.

Along the way the temperatures kept climbing, from 24 to 29 and now 28. The rain showers developed accordingly: the warmer it got, the more squalls in the evening. Luckily they weren’t very heavy and the extra wind was manageable, just a few knots.

The crew is having a lovely passage, which each of them experiences in their own way. One thinks it’s fantastic and it can’t last long enough, another has had about enough by now and would like to arrive, or just can’t settle into it. That’s a fine life experience; ocean sailing isn’t for everyone, as it turns out once again.

Apart from the electric toilet getting blocked again and a small leak we just can’t track down, there haven’t been any major technical mishaps (so far, that is.) Only the Watt&Sea needs inspecting, because since last night it’s been making a different noise and producing less power. The electronics have been thoroughly observed by Mark, and the first bug fixes should be released today. He now has a very clear picture of how it’s used on long passages, and since he’s responsible for testing and QA, that’s a very good thing.

Other than that, we (mainly I) learned a few things again, which I’ll just jot down here as a reminder to myself:

1. From 17 kn downwind goose-winged you’re better off reefing; it doesn’t make much difference to the speed, and the sail area is then better balanced between main and jib. The boat rolls less and is even more comfortable. The process of getting the jib to windward works just as well.
2. Don’t forget to transfer the water ballast before gybing.
3. The new reefing system:
   • main on port, otherwise the batten gets caught behind the reef line.
   • Reefing downwind works fine: course 170 TWA, boom in until it’s above the deckhouse, vang fully released, a bit of tension on the topping lift, slowly ease the main halyard and take in the reef line.
   • Shaking out the reef: head up to a beam reach and then release the boom so it can move; this pulls the reef lines loose.
4. The current off Suriname is very interesting, with a complete circular flow. Study it in detail before departure and put in a waypoint where it is; PredictWind routing only picks up the current a week ahead.
5. Lift the dinghy higher with ratchet straps and take the little bench out.
6. Two 5L water bottles are enough for all the plastic waste of 12 days with 5 people, as long as everything is cut into small pieces.
7. Don’t forget the lip balm/sunscreen next time.

I’ll wrap up today with a photo and a video. Tomorrow in Paramaribo; I’m afraid I won’t get round to writing a post, but you can follow along on the tracker…