LORD'S PRAYER LOG, Part 39:
Tuesday, March 21, 2000 CONTINUED

2215 I establish radio contact with PinOak and begin passing email.
2228 A ship at 300R/2.5 NM passes down the port side headed south.
2235 I start the engine to charge the batteries.
2310 I complete the task of passing email, having sent 3 messages and received two.

Wednesday, March 22, 2000
0130 I secure the engine.
0200 I send a reply to one of tonight's incoming emails.
0637 Sunrise
0735 The wind has pooped out and the boat has turned onto a heading of west. She
is now 9.5 NM left of intended track. I start the engine and bring her back to
the approximate desired heading. There is still just enough wind that the wind vane
has a reference for steering control. By pushing the boat with the engine, she maintains
steerage. Lord's Prayer remains close-hauled, while motor sailing on the starboard tack
but unable, because of the wind direction, to steer far enough right to start coming back
to the intended track. She is, however, holding the cross-track distance relatively
steady - at least for the moment.
0815 Late breakfast: Oatmeal Crisp Raisin cereal with sliced banana, orange juice and coffee.
0830 While having my breakfast in the cockpit I sight a patch of Sargasso weed - the first
that I have seen since re-entering the Atlantic.  The following information about this seaweed
is paraphrased from information obtained in the Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia 2000: Brown
algae, sometimes called Gulfweed, consist of branches with leaf-like blades and numerous small,
air-filled sacs that keep the gulfweed afloat. It drifts sometimes in large masses in the Gulf Stream,
which flows northeast from the Gulf of Mexico, and in the Sargasso Sea, a large oval region of the
Atlantic Ocean (commonly defined as: 35 to 70degrees W longitude and 25 to 32 degrees N latitude)
between the West Indies and the Azores. Here, it tends to remain captured. This phenomenon is
primarily due to the fact that the Gulf Stream and other currents of the North Atlantic rotate
clockwise around the margins of this region. Abundant varieties of seaweed plants such as brown
gulfweed (Sargassum natans) float on its surface, giving the Sargasso Sea its name.
0922 The wind is back up to 10-11 kts. I fiddle with the trim of the sails and the adjustments
on the wind vane. I secure the engine. Engine log: 1556.0 hrs. Her heading is about 15 degrees
left of that intended. Forward speed is about 4 kts.
1100 The wind has held its velocity at 10-11 kts for the past 2 hours. It has veered slightly, such
that Lord's Prayer is now sailing nearly paralleling - displaced 10.5 NM left of the intended track
line. A review of the most recent weather information indicates that I can expect the wind to back
around anti-clockwise, and that by tomorrow it will be a head wind. I shall probably stay on this
tack until I either close the land/shoals to a distance of 20 NM or until coming about onto the port
tack would be more productive than staying on the starboard. If the wind fails to back as forecast
I might be able to stay on starboard tack all the way to Abaco. If the direction of the wind forces
me closer to the Turks & Caicos or to the Bahamas, as it seems intent on doing, I would not mind
sailing along the eastern shore of San Salvador Island (24-03N 074-26W) in the Bahamas
so that I might see the island where Columbus first stepped foot into the new world on
October 12, 1492. Columbus gave the island its name San Salvador ("Holy Savior"), although
the natives that lived there at the time called it "Guanahani" and in later centuries it was known
as "Watling Island" - at least until its identity was confirmed as Columbus' landing site in the
1800s and it was subsequently renamed San Salvador in 1926.
1200 A brief rain shower begins.
1205 Lunch: Chilled angel hair pasta, white bread, fat free cheese, a soft drink and some Apple
Newtons. I read some from the "Yachtsman's Guide to the Bahamas" - Tropic Isle Publishers, Inc.
1240 Another rain shower begins. The wind goes flat. I start the engine to push
to boat along.
1255 The wind becomes light and variable less than 2 kts. The wind vane is no longer able
to steer. I give the autopilot a shot at the task and take a heading cut back toward the intended
track line.
1318 The autopilot gives it up. The wind however has reappeared out of the north
at 11 kts. And so I give the steering task back to the wind vane.
1323 I fall off onto starboard tack close-hauled once again, secure the engine,
tweak the sail trim, and adjust the wind vane settings till everything is as it
should be.
1335 The wind has dropped off to 7-8 kts with a corresponding drop in forward speed.
 I go back to my reading.
1415 With several rain showers in the vicinity the wind picks up to 17-18 kts and
 Lord's Prayer puts her lee rail awash as she gathers speed.
1445 The wind drops below 7 kts. The rain showers have blown off to leeward.
1520 The wind poops out and I restart the engine.
1610 The wind picks up 15-21 kts with showers in the vicinity. I adjust the heading,
secure the engine, tweak the trim of the sails, and adjust the wind vane. Once again
the lee rail is awash with the boat close-hauled on the starboard tack..
1812 The wind has settled down to a lovely and steady 15 kts. Lord's Prayer is close-hauled
on the starboard tack making 5 kts and slowly regaining some of the cross-track distance
that was lost to leeward earlier.
1830 Supper: a big fancy salad and a soft drink
1849 Sunset. The temperature is starting to get noticeably cooler. Both the air
and the water temperature have dropped just a little as I continue north. The water
temperature is down one degree since leaving the Caribbean. The air temperature
is running 2-3 degrees cooler. It is surprising how quickly one notices these changes.
1900 The wind drops to less than 8 kts and the forward motion of the boat falls
to 2 kts as she wallows about in the seas.
1920 I re-start the engine and set the RPM to push the boat ahead at an economical
speed. I adjust the wind vane for the changes.
1949 The wind picks up again to 14 kts. I secure the engine and reset the wind vane.
I am beginning to develop a real personal understanding of why sailors in the old
square-riggers lived in the rigging!
2215 I bring the boat about. The wind has backed into the NNW. The large Atlantic
seas are on the nose now and she loses her forward speed trying to sail into them.
I start the engine to push her along.
2355 Position: 22-25N 069-44W
END OF LORD'S PRAYER LOG, Part 39


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