Passage to Barbados: Day 5

Day 5: 13 November 2016

We are getting used to sailing in the trade winds. We still haven’t changed the sail set since the morning of Day 2. We have only adjusted the sails in and out a small bit to change the location of chafe points. The winds and seas were slightly calmer than yesterday; about 15-20 knots during the day, and 10-15 knots at night.

We deployed Eliana’s drifter buoy and messages at 13.3N, 35W. Shortly after deploying her buoy, we were treated to a small pod of Pilot Whales. The whales were surfing in the residual swell and having a great time. They swam with us for about 5 minutes before returning, presumably, to their regular routine of feeding, playing, feeding, playing, etc.

We enjoyed a quite day of watching the waves, listening to podcasts (Stuff You Should Know: Maggots – Good for healing wounds, turns out… Anneka’s choice!), and eating good food. We’ve been storing away some of the best treats for this specific Atlantic crossing. The treat today – Trader Joe’s Chipotle Black Bean Dip – specially imported from the Hingham, MA, store on Eric’s last trip to the USA before departing on Laridae.

For those in the know, you’ll understand why we love this black bean dip. For those unfamiliar with the delicacy, you should understand that the dip inspired a heated debate between Anneka and Dorian about the pros and cons of residing in the USA (essentially dip vs Trump).

We celebrated the approaching milestone of getting 1/3 of the way across the Atlantic with, wait for it… showers! It was calm enough on the deck to take a seawater bath (seawater buckets dumped over our heads) and rinse with a very small quantity of fresh water. This was a real joy with the warm seawater (about 28 deg C), warm air, and calms seas. We carry about 200 gallons of fresh water on board (no watermaker) and we anticipate that we will be able to complete the 15-18 day passage with only using 100 gallons among the 3 adults and 3 kids. Yes, we ration fresh water carefully!

The daily run in the lighter conditions was 148 miles.

3 thoughts on “Passage to Barbados: Day 5”

  2. Eric, et. al
    I
    Love reading your daily musings about your voyage. You mention 3 adults. Is there another grown-up aboard or are either you or Angela bipolar?

    Love

    Alan

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  3. Dear Eric and family, My name is Andria and I have really enjoyed reading your post.  I live in Barbados and would like to know how long your family will be here with the Laridae.  I have never sailed but reading about your journey has been inspiring and I love following you on the map and sharing your adventure with my children.  I hope we can get to meet you when you are here. Kind regards,Andria

    From: laridae.ca To: andria_payne@yahoo.com Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2016 12:09 AM Subject: [New post] Passage to Barbados: Day 5 #yiv4020084396 a:hover {color:red;}#yiv4020084396 a {text-decoration:none;color:#0088cc;}#yiv4020084396 a.yiv4020084396primaryactionlink:link, #yiv4020084396 a.yiv4020084396primaryactionlink:visited {background-color:#2585B2;color:#fff;}#yiv4020084396 a.yiv4020084396primaryactionlink:hover, #yiv4020084396 a.yiv4020084396primaryactionlink:active {background-color:#11729E;color:#fff;}#yiv4020084396 WordPress.com | Eric S. posted: “Day 5: 13 November 2016We are getting used to sailing in the trade winds. We still haven’t changed the sail set since the morning of Day 2. We have only adjusted the sails in and out a small bit to change the location of chafe points. The winds and seas” | |

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