"Arctracer" Letters

Update 7 - At Sea 4 March 2013

Ahoy!

I am writing this on Monday, March 4.

Ascension was a bit of a bust. The anchorage was rough with crazy swells and a difficult & dangerous landing. It wasn't easy to get ashore, especially with our rowing dinghy.

I'd hoped to be able to go see the turtles laying eggs and hatching on the beach, but the "tour" only happens twice weekly and begins at 9pm. It was bad enough getting between the island and Arctracer during the day. Jerry had no desire to do it at night (and I wasn't going to row myself - especially after I almost landed in the water along with my camera and laptop at one point), so I asked about hotel room prices. There was only one room available and it was out of my budget. It would also have been nice to drive and hike around the island. Unfortunately, no rental cars were available for several days.

So my visit to Ascension Island consisted mainly of checking in with officials, checking Internet (which was nice), sending a few postcards, and checking out.

Although the anchorage was rough, I had fun filming the hundreds of triggerfish that gathered around the boat. First I tied a string to my GoPro camera and dangled it, but the camera would twist and turn with the water, so I then taped it to a rod in order to have more control. The fish were interested in the camera and several bit the case. They bit anything in the water, including Plastic Kyle MacLachlan and one of my toes. Ouch! Mom had told me they have tiny little mouths and it shouldn't hurt if they bit me. After experiencing the pain, though, I looked them up in the World Atlas of Marine Fishes. "The mouth is small, but has strong jaws with dog-like teeth that are used to crush hard-shelled invertebrates." My shell is not hard.

It was also fun seeing the turtles in the water, but I didn't have any luck filming them. I'd hear them first as they came up for a breath of air, then get my camera to the right spot just as they were going under again. I hoped I'd catch one under water with the GoPro, but I don't think any got close enough. Perhaps I'll get another opportunity to see Ascension? I won't rule it out.

Saturday morning we set sail again. I haven't gotten seasick at all! I think it might be because sea is actually more comfortable than the anchorage we were in...

On the first day out, we lost two lures. The first was to a big mahi-mahi, which we saw jumping out of the water. It broke the line. The next we never saw, so I'm going to assume it was a very large and very mean shark. At one point we had to bring in a lure because a frigatebird was acting very interested in it. We do NOT want to catch a bird! Mom & Jerry had that happen once - sounded awful. Frigatebirds, by the way, may be my all-time favorite birds. We saw a lot of them at Ascension and they are beautiful to watch.

Yesterday I was at the helm for a little while. In the next couple days I want to officially be "on watch" for a few hours every day. This time was pretty exciting! Out of nowhere there was a little squall, during which the auto pilot stopped working. Within seconds we were going much much faster in not quite the right direction and the sail was flapping away. It all got sorted out quickly with Mom's help. Then the squall was over and I saw my first rainbow of the trip. Jerry had to do a bit of work to get the auto pilot going again, so I hand steered for a while. It's not all that easy. Most of the time there's not a heckuva lot to worry about, but occasionally there's something like that or a ship to avoid crashing into.

We continue to eat well! Mom has made corned beef stew with dumplings, split pea soup with cheesy breadsticks, peanut butter cookies, and some bread and rolls. We would like fish tonight. C'mon fish!

Random info about drinks aboard Arctracer. I've mostly been drinking water. So far, I've only had bottled water, but we're close to running out, so I will begin drinking Namibian/St. Helena water shortly. Mom and Jerry don't have any problem with it, so hopefully I'll be fine too. Knowing that seasickness and dehydration were possible issues, I stocked up on sports drinks before we left. As it turns out, I hate sports drinks. Like...HATE them. Most are still sitting there. I hate them. Seriously. Occasionally I have a ginger beer, but we don't have very many of those. I've tried having coffee a few times, but it's just not appealing here, which is weird. I love coffee. My alcoholic drink of choice has been the Tanqueray martini, which my mom makes perfectly. I haven't had any while sailing, though - just when anchored/moored.

It has been getting warmer and warmer as we go along. I no longer need any blankets at night and haven't worn anything warmer than a t-shirt and shorts in over a week. I think my biggest enemy out here is the sun. I spend a lot of time inside. I've been very good about sunscreen and hats and sunglasses, but I missed a spot one day and found out how bad it could be if I'm not careful. It's so grimy, though. My least favorite thing is to have a long awaited shower only to immediately have to put more sunscreen on.

Our noon coordinates:
Saturday 3/2: 7 deg 53' S, 14 deg 34' W
Sunday 3/3: 7 deg 24' S, 16 deg 36' W
Monday 3/4: 6 deg 55' S, 18 deg 41' W

If you have any questions for me, send 'em to Rick and perhaps he can pass them along.

Hugs & Kisses,

Sailor Hilary