We saw cruise ships from afar on the radar last night and a few fishing boats. “We” is a big word because I haven’t seen them at all, but Louis was telling me about them. He also lowered the mainsail during the night.
Around 6 a.m. I went outside to watch while Louis slept. Our captain must have strength and energy. So until 8:30 I let him sleep. I have had a lot of trouble falling asleep since we left. I hope it will improve over time. But at least, after the omelette that Louis made for lunch, I was able to get some sleep from 9:30 -11:30 (at least 1 hour of sleep). It did me good. Beautiful sunshine during my siesta. Cloudy for the rest of the day.
In the end, the batteries didn't recharge that night, but Louis cut the clamps off the battery charger we bought from Terceira and tried to charge the batteries directly from the alternator. It seemed to work for a while. I also know that at one point he turned everything off and when he turned everything back on, the alternator started to do its job properly again and recharge the batteries. It still scared us enough that we'll let the engine run with the sails for a few days.
As it is difficult to read or write with seasickness, I abstained. Louis was able to read, the lucky one. I took my Dictaphone to write down the ideas and memories to tell you.
You can already see the difference in temperature because I am already less cold. The first days I had my clothes, pants, sailing dungarees, camisole, warm sweater, sailing coat and windbreaker. And today I'm only in combination with a sleeping bag on my legs and my sailing coat but open. It's still cool, but we feel that we're going to warmer climate. It feels good!
Instead of following the proposed course which passed behind Sao Miguel (to starboard) and behind Madeira, the captain decided to sail straight ahead. To pass through the middle of an anticyclone and therefore its center without really windy instead of following the wind but going more distance. So we had little wind and few waves today. So I'm starting to feel better and better. The fatigue is still there, but I feel better. I drink a little more, but my appetite still hasn't returned. Despite this, Louis makes us good dishes at every meal.
Between 1 and 2 p.m. we even washed up in the cockpit. It was quite warm in the sun. Not much wind so we took advantage of it. It felt good. The heat usually goes away quickly from 4 p.m. on, so we took advantage of the good weather and the heat as much as we could.
We also almost went through a storm but the time to get there had already passed. It suited me well even if Louis would have liked to experience the storm!
We took advantage of the afternoon to listen to music and add 2 cans of diesel of 20l each to the main tanks.
The more the day advances and the more I feel that I am tired but superb day once again, we are lucky, it is extraordinary.
Oh yes, last night I woke up without seeing Louis. I was in the saloon and I was looking towards the cockpit without seeing him. So I got up to go look in the cockpit. No Louis. I looked towards the bridge. No Louis. I went back into the cabin and looked into the captain's bed and into the V bunk (the bed at the bow). No Louis. There I took a deep breath and I said to myself: "breathe, there remains the bathroom, otherwise we are screwed". I knocked hard saying his name loudly and opening the door. "Louis". And he answered me: "talk to me less loudly or you won't be able to sleep". Uh… I was already on an adrenaline rush, too bad if I don't fall asleep right away. At least there are always two of us in the boat.
Luckily I still have my captain!
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