Lat: 2 59.429′ S
Lon: 35 12.278′ W

After three days of sailing more or less northward, trying to dodge fishing boats and sail close-hauled to maximize light winds, we finally sailed past the eastern tip of the South American continent and back into the deep blue water of the Atlantic. Since then we’ve had a little more wind (though it comes and goes), but the seas are so calm and night the skies so clear and cool that it feels like we are back in the Mozambique Channel.

Also serving as a reminder of that passage is the marine life that has accompanied us over the last few days. When I arose from the berth this morning, Dallas greeted me with a big smile and said that conditions were “absolutely beautiful” with tuna frequently jumping out of the water. Shortly thereafter, we both were greeted by 20 or so large dolphins swimming around the bow — the third consecutive morning that Dallas has seen them. I watched them from our usual vantage point on the bowsprit and then donned a mask and snorkel to view them underwater while hanging onto the swim ladder behind the boat. I have been using that swim ladder frequently to cool off on this and other passages, but actually snorkeling while sailing was a new experience.

It’s good that we are finding ways to stay cool and entertain ourselves, as we are having one of slowest passages ever. We had our first 100 mile day yesterday (well, 97 but rounding up), which is usually the minimum expectation, and Dallas tells me that we still haven’t hit the doldrums yet. At this rate, we are going to grow old out here (or at least grow very tired of playing gin rummy)! But at the moment we have resorted to motoring for a little while, which helps a lot.

Yesterday morning we didn’t have the option of motoring, which was a little foreboding. As Dallas mentioned, we left port without use of the port engine, and when I tried to put the starboard engine into gear on my watch the previous night, it made a loud noise that sounded as though something was caught on the propeller. But Dallas spent a couple of sweaty hours in the engine rooms yesterday, and now we are good to go. It turned out that the port engine’s ground wire had corroded through and needed to be repaired and reconnected. As for the starboard, whatever (if anything) was on the prop seemed to have freed itself.

That’s about all I’ve got for now. Since we’re running the engine, we have the freezer running, so it’s time to enjoy the unusual luxury of drinking a cold beer.