Day 32 – A brand new month

1 Apr, 07 – 21.30    
18.0402N,32.5371W
24 hr progress: 14 Nautical Miles

Still a bit slow in the mileage department as we continue at a glacial pace sans rudder. Another milestone complete with crossing into the Mid-Atlantic time zone. Woohoo!
However, because I take my position readings and phone calls etc. according to GMT, I have left the ships clock at GMT.
So, as it happens, I've moved around 3 hrs behind GMT, so sunrise is 9.30 am and sunset is around 9.00 pm. It's working out fine, as I get a longer day in.
As I write this, its around 9.30pm. The moon is hidden behind the clouds. It's been windless all day, cloudy, dead calm with the sun and moon hidden behind the clouds.
The sea has been thru different mood changes throughout the day.
This morning it was like rowing on blobs of molten metal as featured in terminator. A few hours later a small break in the clouds sent the sea into an IBM blue color before turning back again into battle ship gray color.
As I write this on deck and the sea and sky are just one layer of violet and its impossible to tell there the horizon is. The moon usually sets at around 6.00 GMT, just a few hrs before sunrise, so everything usually goes solid black around that time and then its a spot of blind rowing till I can see the first rays coming over the horizon again.
This is the most windless it has been ever since leaving El Hierro. No waves. No sound of crashing water. No nothing. Just an unreal silence interrupted by the occasional flying fish jumping out of the water and belly-flops back or the dolphin that comes up to the surface to breath.
Some scattered activity for the day included diving under to scrape the barnacles off the stern before fitting the new rudder in. Followed by a spot of lunch consisting of tinned Argentinian corned beef, olives (that I discovered yesterday), some tomatoes, toast and a protein shake with fruit salad. As I wrote earlier, I had put fenders out on the port side, so as to slow the flow of water on one side and keep the port side to the wind while I get the steering fixed. Anyway, I've lost one of the fenders over the side, as I was adjusting the ropes., so a new new fender has been improvised with a 5 ltr bottle of water and a towel. It looks ridiculous, but then again, there is no one around....
A small celebration for achieving the 1 month milestone. Shots of Aquavit all around. Ahh..the numbers on the trip computer continue to change....ever so slowly....
B
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Or email me at mail@bhavik.com (I can only check my messages once I reach shore).

Barnicles on the stern..

perfect day

surreal sunset, rowing on molten metal