Equator Crossing
Hello Sports fans-
Big day today- as GS2 and I have just crossed the Equator- showing the latitude on the GPS clicking to 0'00.000! (see photo below) Very exciting- and the first major milestone passed on this long voyage. It certainly feels good to have accomplished this first goal and to be in the southern hemisphere!
However, the bigger picture challenge has been the "Battle of the Bulge", or my never-ending quest to get around the NE corner of Brazil- b...y the city of Recife. This is still about 450 miles south, so another two days sailing. At that point, I expect the winds to begin to come more from the ENE rather than the ESE that they have been, i.e. right on the nose- and this will be a welcome relief from about 10 days of continuous pounding to windward.
So- a few stats for ya: Note: These numbers are from my B&G instrument system, so are very accurate, except for the fact that I turned the "Trip Log" function on about 36 hours after I started (typical), so I have made some estimates for that discrepancy.
Distance travelled (Great Circle): 3,560 nm
Distance travelled- through the water: 4,008
Trip time: 17 days, 21 hours, or 429 hours
Average Speed: 8.3 knots (based on Great Circle distance- average speed is higher based on total distance sailed)
Top Speed: 24.6 knots
