Wind in the Doldrums?

As we approach the equator, we pass through the Doldrums, the huge areas notorious for their light winds. Of course, we'd rather sail than motor but the frustration of sitting in one spot (or going backwards as some boats have reported!) for hours can be very hard on the nerves. Plus, Rutea has the fuel capacity to motor for fairly long stretches of time. So, when we get a puff of wind, we hoist all the sails, kill the engine and hope that it lasts. However, often it's for a short period of time so we furl the sails, start the engine back up and continue motoring. Only to have the same process repeat over and over, our hope springing eternally for a constant breeze that will take us the rest of the way.

We've allowed ourselves to get a little too far west - for this latitude we should be crossing the equator now, not being 200 miles north of it. This means we'll have to 'beat' pretty hard for the rest of the 900 miles. Next time we'll know better although many of the boats in our fleet have taken the same route.

Even though we're now more than halfway, we're still in one of the most remote parts of the world. There are very few other spots in the world's oceans that are this far from any land. Due east of us is Bogota, Columbia, 3,333 miles away.

We hope that you're all doing great and that you enjoyed your weekend.
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At 4/4/2011 7:39 PM (utc) Rutea's position was 02°26.64'N 129°38.44'W

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