Day 4 - Santa Maria to Dakar via Mindelo
By Sharon Ferris-Choat
- 15:48 UTC
- 25° 21'.312N
- 24° 39'.922W
- TWS 18.5 - 22kn
- TWD 056°
- TWA 134°
- SOG 8.5 - 10kn
- COG 185°
- Sea State 2.5m
- Water temperature 26° shower (bucket) time I think!
- Barometer 1015
We have 503.5nm to a safe way point outside Mindelo Marina and 698nm from Santa Maria. Over halfway now!
We have gone from yoga sessions on the bow to surfing Maiden down 2.5m waves in all directions, it's like white water rafting at the moment. We are heading in the right direction so everyone is happy and wanting for the wheel to get the latest speed record. Molly just wiped Lungi and my record off the page with 14.3 kn, she was all giggles down a nice wave! Heather, Molly and I have done more sights and now have a feel for the calculations required. I'm generally 3 nautical miles off which isn't bad for a beginner, but could be better! It's like everything, "practice makes perfect". I just need practice!
I have also been working with Molly, Jenna and Lungi with driving in these waves. I wasn't with them on the last leg so it's good to spend time with them now and see the improvements and the desire to be better!
These girls are brilliant team mates supporting each other in every way and the chats that go on are from stars, clouds, generators, engines, navigation, trimming, wind, who's cooking, who is the fastest, new Maiden dance moves and song suggestions to add to the Maiden play list.
Ami has been working on the generator and Heather on the water maker. Hadley is getting great system's in place that can be passed from crew to crew. Sarah will inventory provisions before we arrive so we know what we will need for the 3 days to Dakar.
We are getting things ticked off the job list and are hoping to arrive in Mindelo on the 18th around 10:00 UTC. We need to keep a good average speed to do this.
We have another birthday this week. We celebrated Jenna's in Santa Maria the day Maiden came out of the water and we have our nipper Sarah's on the 17th, she's happy to have it at sea so we will get organized for it!
So from a surfing happy Maiden crew heading in the right direction to ice cream! That's perfect planning!
