Position: We are STILL trying to sailing south west through the Panama Basin. The body of water in the Pacific Ocean that separates Panama from the Galapagos Islands. At the moment we have to admit, we are STILL not getting very far. N 5′ 30.40′ W 82′ 24.20′
Mileage: We are STILL tacking back and forth, with the wind coming from the South West, so difficult to calculate any daily rate right now. But generally speaking, WE ARE NOT GETTING VERY FAR
Number of miles to go: 3503nm to go of approx. 3850nm (That is only if we were able to sail straight there)
Fish count: No improvement on numbers as the sea has been too rough to reel in and clean fish. The count is 3 Mahi Mahi, 2 Cero and 6 tuna. One Marlin that we were happy got away!
WINDS AND WEATHER
We have had strong winds from the south west, along with squall after squall, for most of last night and today. I got the humans to put a second reef into the main yesterday, just before the worst of them struck. Glad they did! Unfortunately the gusting winds, waves and ‘probably’ an adverse current has meant we have not gotten far despite the number of miles we have been sailing. But that is sailing for you! At least we have wind to sail, even if it is in the wrong direction.
PLASTIC AND THE SEA
I am sure that all of you are aware that it is illegal to dump any plastics into the sea. Despite this the sea is full of plastics and there are concerns that these are entering the food chain. On Spirit of Argo we keep a few empty 5L water bottles to store any plastic wraps in. Even though we tried to minimize the amount of packaging we brought aboard, it is difficult in this age of processing and packaging. The sealed tops on the water bottles avoid any smells, and it is remarkable how much you can keep ‘shoving’ in to these bottles, so it takes up less space.
But the humans broke the sacred rule of no dumping plastics in the sea. They throw my favorite toy bone over board. BAD HUMANS!
BUT THINGS ARE LOOKING UP
It seems the sea gods are starting to look fondly upon us. It must be all your well wishes! The horizon looked like it might be clearing just before the sun set and the winds have started to turn a little more fair. We are starting to be able to get a little west into our heading. Find me a replacement dog toy in the middle of the Pacific, and maybe things are starting to look up?
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