3pm Sunday 8th April
Lovely sunshine ...just found one wisp of cloud on the horizon astern. Seas are a lot calmer in the mostly light winds. Frequent red-footed boobies fly past - at midday, we were 100 miles due E of Isla Socorro and the other islands in its group which must be where they nest. An all-brown juvenile has kept us entertained a lot today - it hasn't yet changed its plumage to the handsome white with black wing tips of its elders.
Overnight motoring continues to be routine so as to keep the batteries charged when the sun has disappeared. They are fading fast, so need constant input to keep their voltage up . Most of last night, the wind angle was good enough to allow motor-sailiing with both main and headsail unfurled in the light winds from NNW.
Weather forecast is still looking very good - avoiding the need for thoughts of making landfall a lot further south than wished for. Winds are expected to continue to be consistently NNW-NW, possibly WNW, over the next few days, allowing an easy course to be laid towards Banderas Bay to the NE. Last night, and today, the wind allowed more northing to be made, to be sure of an easy passage on Monday and Tuesday - we hope to make landfall some time in the late afternoon.
Despite the rough conditions earlier this week and last week, as well as not getting enough sleep and often feeling less than 100%, Suzanne has produced great meals with far more variety than I'm used to on board 'Nereida'! We've also had a constant supply of fresh-baked corn-bread (a type of cake, to my mind!).
4pm position/conditions: 18 40'N, 109 13'W; COG:040T; SOG: 5.8kt;wind: NNW 6-7kt;cloud 1% !!
(See www.svnereida.com for link to website showing our track. P.S. Brief 'newsy' emails welcome using my Winlink address or my website 'Contact' page! No FB out here...)