Day 2, Ascension Island to Grenada

1300Z 24MAY22, Day 2, Ascension Island to Grenada. It's sunny and not much wind which translates to hot, hot, hot. We continue to seek shade and ways to stay cool.

Current Position: 07 21S / 017 39W (yesterday should have been 015W and not 005W!)
24 hour progress: 110nm, 4.6kts avg SOG. Overall progress for the passage is 202nm, approximately 2878nm to Grenada. 13 hours on the engine after 6 hours of sailing at 3kts or below. Now back to sailing downwind, port tack, with the full asymmetric and main at the 4th reef.

The winds continued to lighten through yesterday staying below 10kts. The afternoon found us playing the game of what is that smell and where is it coming from. We (finally) tracked it down to some cauliflower that didn't make it and our box of eggs that had gotten infested. This gave us a job for awhile cleaning a vegetable bin, checking the other fruits and vegetables, getting rid of the cardboard box and checking on the eggs to salvage what we could. That was followed up with changing out a pre-filter for the watermaker as production had been notably slow when we departed Ascension. A fairly easy task at the pier, that's always a bit slower and messier when the boat is moving around.

By sunset we saw boat speeds under 2kts and wind below 5kts so we furled and doused the asymmetric and turned on the engine. Winds stayed low throughout the night. We recharged our batteries, made lots of water (better production thanks to that filter change!) and did some laundry. At least we were moving in the right direction, at a good speed and working through chores, even if the noise and extra heat were not especially nice.

After sunrise we decided we'd had enough of the noise and at least were back to around 10kts of wind. We put out the chute and secured the engine. Moving along again, on a good course, at 3-4kts. We continue to head west (with a touch of north) as we await the trade winds filling back in and the ITCZ moving back to a more normal position. We expect the winds to improve in the next 24 hours.

The crew is well, but hot. Lots of lying around and moving around trying to find cool places to sleep. Outside is a favorite, especially at night. Humans and cats behave the same in these conditions.

Last night we were invaded by a flock of noddys. They were rude and messy house guests. They fought with each other and left feathers, fish bits and poop everywhere. We had at least 10 aboard at one time - on a spreader, on the lifelines, on the solar panels, on the boom, on the bimini and somehow a pair balanced on the wind generator (which wasn't moving as there was no wind and we were motoring). Apparently we made a good island. We expect they will return after dark, but we shall see. When we exit the Ascension Island MPA in another hour or so, the fishing line will return to the water.