Location: 2° 26.0 N, 39° 32.0 W
Monday 12:00, 06.19.2006

The Schooner Maggie B's Noon Position on June 19th was 2° 26 N, 39° 32 W . The SE'erly trades seem to have set in. The wind has been 120-140 at 10 to 25 knots. Rain showers are more frequent. Our course is about 185 degrees at 4 to 6 knots. We have full jib up and full main, which is too little for the lighter breezes and too much for the little blows that come with each shower. We are probably going to switch to one reef in the fore and main, to keep two "slots" where the overlapping sails help power us to windward. That will give us more balance and flexibility. The sea is bigger and confused with a fair SE'erly swell with a cross chop.

It is tough to steer and trim the sails. We need power to push through the waves, but we also need to go to Fernando de Noronha, which is about 160 degrees at 550 miles. When in doubt, go for power.

I understand that the Crew Quiz Test Your Sea Legs is operational on the web site. Try it! Please give me feedback.

We put our fishing lines over today and had a nice Wahoo landed about an hour later. Somewhat bigger than the last two, this one probably making three meals for the six of us. Thanks to great advice from my friend Richard Postma of the fishing catamaran Taravana in French Polynesia (Google his web site -- he is a real character), and killer lures from Melton, it seems as if we just have to decide when we want fish for dinner and "reach in the tank" for a nice one. I suppose that it helps that no one else has probably ever fished this area.

It looks as if we are going to have a bit of a hard slog to windward. I have forgotten what it feels like to sail the Maggie B off the wind. But...

All is well.

Location: 4° 12.0 N, 40° 19.0 W
Sunday 12:00, 06.18.2006

The Schooner Maggie B's noon position on June 18 was 4° 12.0 N 40° 19.0 W. The wind has been from 110-130 degrees at 7 to 15 knots. Last night we had one rain shower after another. The rain showers would bring wind (and water!) then no wind after. Routine was to stop the engine, roll out the jib (fore sail stowed), adjust sails, close all hatches, get a big cold shower, run out of wind, start engine, roll up jib, open hatches. Repeat on half hour intervals. Fun at 4 PM, less so at 4 AM. At noon we were sailing along nicely at 6.5 knots, heading 175, with a wind from 120 at 12 knots. Great if it lasts, but more SE'erly winds (on our nose) predicted ahead so we are doing our best to keep East for the wind shift. We have gone 1420 NM since Barbados. Natal and Fernando de Noronha are both about 680 NM to go. Last night we were treated to a very rare (first time I've ever seen it) moon-bow. After one short but intense rain shower, the half moon popped out and behind us was a perfect arc against the clouds, whiter than the clouds, with just a little touch of pink. One pleasure of having it relatively clear to the South is that we have been learning our Southern stars. There is the Southern Cross, which despite all the hype looks rather like a kid's kite to me. More interesting is Alpha and Beta Centauri. But the most interesting, if one is up from midnight to four AM, is to watch the well defined Scorpio do a slow somersault around bright blue Spica in Virgo. We have also had the Twins setting in the West behind us, looking sometimes like a pair of ship's masthead lights bearing down on us. Today was another first. The Captain made scones and they came out pretty well (after you have been at sea for a while anything is delicious). The recipe caught my eye by being called "Fool Proof Scones." I was happy that my son Alden insisted on a nice slate bread-making surface next to the stove. It almost was a disaster when I found that the bread pan where the dough was all laid out ready to go....didn't fit the oven! #$*@*&@%!! But my tool box was handy and the tin snips had all sorted out directly.

All is well.

Ten days at sea. . .

We are sailing 300 nautical miles East from the delta of the Amazon river. We have been at sea for ten days without seeing land. Our universe is the boat, our 19 meter headquarters. That is where we live now. We hoist and lower sails, adjust them and keep an eye on the horizon for other boats. We cook and eat together, we sleep and we dream. On our night watches we sail under the stars and keep our heading in relation to the moon. We remember the sunset and wait for the sunrise. The wind cools our sunburned skin.

One morning, just as the sun was rising, a butterfly flew around the stern of the boat. (Was it born on board or was it blown here from some far-away place like Africa?) One night a tropical seabird tried to make a landing on deck to get some rest. An afternoon shearwaters followed us fishing in the shade behind the boat. They flew up in the air, looked for fish and landed like ducks slowing themselves down with their feet. Once in the water, they poke their heads down into the waves. How deep can they see? I wonder... and what do they see? I wish I could be in the water with them for a while and open my wings like a bird and start flying if sharks approach.

Dolphins and flying fish are as present in our lives as the sunset and the sunrise. We have learned about colors we didn't know existed: blues of the ocean and the sky, silvery and yellowish shades of sunlight reflected on the water and rainbow-like ever-changing colors that separate days from nights. Salt sticks to our skin and hair. We develop callouses on our palms.

A day goes by and the night comes again. We raise our voices to sing in the wind. We dream while we sing. It is easy to imagine almost anything in the middle of the ocean surrounded by stars. We keep on sailing. Time exists less and less.

Location: 5° 09.5 N, 41° 46.5 W
Saturday 12:00, 06.17.2006

At noon on June 17th, the Schooner Maggie B was at 5° 09.5 N 41° 46.5 W. Our speed is 5.7 kt on a course of 115.

We appear to be on the south side of the ITCZ, with the wind at 180 at 10-12 kt true. We haven't had much in the way of rain showers (yet?) or calms. Since setting out 10 days ago we have run the engine only 25 hours, with the general rule being to motor when the boat speed is under four knots.

Last night it looked as if we were going to get a real "frog choking, gully washer" of a rain so we rigged our rain-catcher, which is a 8x10 foot tarp with a drain set in the middle leading to a short pipe to plug into the water tank filler. Some of us got into bathing suits for a "free" shower, but alas, it passed us by at the last minute with only a little spritz.

We are on course for and 100 miles from our first "turn target" from Commanders Weather, where we'll start arcing south to plug into the SE'erlies. In that we have a southerly already, we may not be able to do much arcing, but so far so good.

We are 780 NM from both Natal and Noronha, with our FdeN being about 150 degrees, which would be difficult if all we get is a strong SE'erly. But so far we have been able to do pretty well with each shift and hopefully we will be able to continue to play whatever variability we get.

Today was wash day and the boat looks rather like 1960's hippie patched blue jeans with every color and kind of cloth everywhere. Hopefully we won't be seen by any other boats.

Bori is starting our Portuguese lessons today, so that we can learn essential phrases like "hello," thank you," and "where is the Internet Cafe?" Noontime music is all Brazilian. Samba lessons next?

Max is showing more of his dingy racing background and climbed up the mainsail leech to hang ribbons so that we can be sure all those Bernoullis are working for us.

All is well.

Location: 5° 52.6 N, 43° 31 W
Friday 12:00, 06.16.2006

The Schooner Maggie B's noon position on June 16 was 5° 52.6 N 43° 31 W. Our course is 120, speed five knots under full plain sail. The wind is from 075 at 8-10 knots. We changed our clocks to Brazil time which is three hours behind Universal Time.

First a quiz, with answers at the end. Don't peek ahead! In a perfectly flat sea with perfect visibility, how far can you see something right on the surface (think a person's head or the strobe light on a life jacket) if you were standing 10 feet (3 M) above the water, before it is over the horizon, literally? Write your answer down. Second, if you are 10 feet (3 M) above the water, flat sea, perfect visibility, how far away could you see a bright light 40 feet (12 M) in the air? Like on the bow of a huge container ship. Third and finally, if the Maggie B is doing her usual seven knots and the aforementioned container ship is doing 28 knots (like the one we saw last night) and they are head to head, closing, how long from the first possible glimpse of the ship's light to impact?

Our position is 535 NM WSW of Belem, 860 from Recife and 870 from Fernando de Noronha (FdeN). FdeN is our new planned next stop. The archipelago is on our way to Natal and is described by The Lonely Planet Guide, which is not prone to exaggeration, as the prettiest place in Brazil, if not the whole world. It is located at 3° 50 S 32° 25 W. It has three of Brazil's "Top Ten" beaches. Access to FdeN is tightly controlled, with a limited amount of tourists, and escalating daily fees. It is mostly a national park and has tight restrictions. It is not exactly a port of entry, but our information is that yachts are allowed to stay briefly in certain areas, especially if it is a "port of necessity." We expect that Bori with her Portuguese, suitable crew uniforms, a nice bottle of French wine, and cheerful payment of the official fees will make our arrival a success. Check FdeN out on the web at Fernando de Noronha. We don't have web access here so if you see any hints for us, please email them.

When we started out for Brazil from Barbados, many sailors were very negative about the routing due to the current along the coast, which would supposedly push us back into the Caribbean. The reality is much different. We have had as much favorable (two knots behind us last night) as unfavorable current. I suspect that it this current was as analyzed as the Gulf Stream, it would not be so scary to sailors, and that with good updates, a navigator could find favorable eddies.

Answers to the quiz: 1) 3.6 miles (5.8 Km)
2) 11 miles (17.6 Km)
3)19 minutes. Yikes! Thank goodness for radar.

All is well.

Location: 6° 26.0 N, 45° 54.0 W
Thursday 12:00, 06.15.2006

The Schooner Maggie B's noon position on 15 June was 6° 26 N 45° 54 W. At noon we were making 4.2 knots on a course of 075 with a wind of 6-8 knots from 150 degrees. We seem to have lost our unfavorable current.

Sailors will look for a while at the next-to-last sentence. First, doing 4.2 knots in a 6-8 knot wind, close hauled with a 35 ton schooner is amazing. But, the sailor says, "you aren't close hauled, the wind is from 75 degrees off your starboard!" But, think of an ice boat -- they go so fast that the relative wind quickly comes forward. Certainly, the Maggie B is no ice boat, but she is so fast that the _relative_ wind cranks forward. No 90 degree tacks here -- more like 150, which makes it tough to get upwind.

Now, as I write at 1400, we are motoring at 8 knots towards our next turn point just on the north side of the ITCZ. The wind has fallen off to 3-4 knots. So, as Captain, I have to start worrying about how far can we motor and when we might have to turn for some earlier Brazilian port if we don't get any wind. We left Barbados with about 350 gallons of diesel. In the last seven days, we have run the generator for 39 hours which is 20 gallons and the engine for seven which is 14 gallons, so we should have about 315 gallons left or somewhat over 1000 miles motoring. We also have an emergency 10 gallons in the propane locker.

It was hard to start the engine because it has been such lovely sailing, even though slow. We had the second half of the Wahoo for lunch on deck under the awning -- fillets marinated in ginger and lime juice, done quickly in a hot frying pan. The sea is sparkling all around with distant rain clouds showing rainbows. There is a gentle NE swell giving the Maggie B a light calm motion.

Our trip log is now at 1028 NM -- not all in a straight line as we are no &^%$# motorboat. Belem on the Amazon is 220 degrees at 500 NM, Natal is 976. Africa -- Sierra Leone -- is just under 2000 NM to the East.

I mention Africa above because one of today's surprises was a big butterfly around us for a while. Since we are downwind from Africa, it must have ridden a tropical wave across. 2000 miles! This morning at first light, Mounira saw a two meter Blue Marlin quite close aboard.

We generally have "air cover" of a group of Common Shearwaters. Today they displayed unusual behavior by landing quite close to the boat -- three of four meters away and then immediately ducking their head underwater to look for goodies. We must have an interesting following under the boat by now.

Last night Jorge the Autopilot was acting out a bit and we were handsteering a lot. The mostly-full moon was in perfect position to lock in the shrouds and sail right on until morning.

All is well.

Location: 7° 14.0 N, 47° 02.0 W
Wednesday 12:00, 06.14.2006

The Schooner Maggie B's Noon Position on June 14 was 7° 14.0 N, 47° 02.0 W. The mouth of the Amazon is SW about 460 NM and Natal is 1060 NM. We are still just close hauled with the wind 075 at 9-10 knots. We are on a course of 120, making 4.5 to 5 knots through the water with one knot of current against us.

We have somewhat updated waypoints from Commander's Weather, our routing and Meteo advisor. Our next point is 5N/40W, where we should encounter the start of the ITCZ, somewhat broken up by a weak tropical wave. From there we make a grand curve south towards Natal. This is somewhat cutting the corner from our earlier plan to go as far East as 5N/28W. The reason is due to an expected softening of the breeze, probably down to the point of us needing to motor for a day or so.

It is another lovely day. The sea is down to mostly 5-7 foot swells, which gives us an easy motion. Today was "Boat Day" with lots of vacuuming, wash down, fixing, tightening, stitching, etc.

Last night we started in on learning our stars with two hours of full dark before the mostly full moon came up. Arcturus was right over us, seemingly wrapped in the top of the mast. Venus greeted the morning watch.

Preparations are already underway to greet Neptune when he boards us as we cross the Equator southbound. It is going to be a rough go with five Pollywogs aboard, but I'll do my best to arrange for the proper ceremonies.

All is well.

Location: 7° 59 N, 48° 29 W
Tuesday 12:00, 06.13.2006

The Schooner Maggie B's noon position on June 13 was 7° 59N, 48° 29W. We have gone 824 NM since Barbados and currently Cayenne is WSW at 300 NM, the mouth of the Amazon SSW at 450 and Natal 1140 NM to go. The wind is 080-090 at 12-15 and we are headed 135-140 at 5.5 knots. We have a full jib, full fore and two reefs in the main.

First the good news. Yesterday evening, Max our resident dingy racer/sailor experimented sailing the Maggie B with a fixed helm. We were sailing close hauled at 6.5 knots in 18-23 knots true wind in a 5-8' swell with mixed waves. The Maggie B, without autopilot or anyone at the help, kept herself about 38-40 degrees off the relative wind, with a variation of only 5-6 degrees for two hours.

But then.... At about 10:30 on the moonlit night, I came on deck where Max had the watch. We were rather bounding along under full sail and she was seeming a bit over pressed. Literally just as Max said "Do you think I'm driving her too hard?" the block at the top of the main throat halyard let go with a bang and down came the sail. All hands on deck had it sorted out in a jiffy and we proceeded at five knots and a bit off the wind with fore sail and reefed jib - reefed for balance.

On inspection of the failure, the upper block was a hefty looking Lewmar 80 "three wheeler" but with a pathetic spindle to connect it to the shackle. While small to begin with, the spindle had been bored out and further compromised by the hole to allow for the shackle pin. It is surprising that the trivial remaining amount of metal could hold up the block, let alone anything attached to it, let alone a main sail. Our other blocks appear all to be Lewmar 80 HD, which have a much heavier spindle.

Going up the mast this morning with the new halyard and spare (heavier!) block was a challenge. Still blowing @20 with moderate confused sea. We set her on course paralleling the rollers, but it still was a beating by a big guy (Neptune?). My inner arms and thighs are black and blue. I am snacking on Industrial Strength Ibuprofen.

When I was up there I though of my hero Ellen MacArthur getting similarly (much, much more) thrashed in the Southern Ocean, and knew that I could do it. But I did also think of Jack London's "To Build a Fire" as my basic motor functions were getting thrashed out of me.

But now the sails are back up and we are bowling along to Natal and. . . .

All is well.

The Word from Commander’s Weather Corporation, sent 06.13.2006

I thought that it might be interesting for readers to see what sort of guidance we are getting on weather routing. I got permission from Chris Wasserback over at Commander's Weather to post this to our site.

Summary €” wind diminishes in the next 12 hrs, and then will be quite light for an extended time thru the weekend!

1) Fairly strong high pressure (1031 mb) is situated well north into the central Atlantic with ridge axis extending to south of Bermuda 2) This high/ridge to the north is responsible for the brisk/strong tradewind regime over the region. a) Winds mainly 20+ knots north of 10N, but lighter to the S and SE 3) Satellite imagery shows lots of cloudiness with scattered showers in the region in association with a trough or tropical wave near 10N and 40W 4) This wave weakens, but troughiness of lower pressure to the north will keep winds on the lighter side over the next couple days. a) Will continue to be some clouds and possible some showers or maybe minor squall or two b) Wnds will be mainly <12 knots c) Wind direction mainly from E, but will vary from NE to SE 5) Will be a stronger wave devloping in the Cape Verdes over next coupledays and heads W thru the weekend. a) not sure of development, but this will keep the trades on lighter side thru the weekend 6) Aso with the lighter trades, the SE flow along the Brazilian coast will be lighter, but still think you could run into 20 kts

Routing €” with the lighter winds, would get more east and head for 5n/40w to 2n/35w and then to 1S/34w before heading S-SW to Natal. With this route, you will be in better position to approach Natal with the stronger SE winds.

Wind forecast Wind directions are TRUE, wind speed in KTS, and time is UTC

Wed, Jun 14 00: 040-060/16-22 06: 050-080/18-10 12: 050-080/7-12 near 7 15n/46 40w 18: 070-110/5-10 or less at times Weather: Variable clouds with potential for a couple showers Seas down to 5-7 ft, less wind wave chop with NE swell

Thu, Jun 15 00: 060-100/5-10 or less 06: 080-110/6-12 12: 090-120/5-10 or less near 6 10n/43 30w 18: 040-070/5-10 Weather: Variable clouds with potential for a few showers, maybe squall or two Seas: down to 4-6 ft, mainly NE to E-NE swell

Fri, Jun 16 00: 050-070/6-12 06: 060-080/8-13 12: 030-060/6-12 near 05 10n/40 30w 18: bcmg light/variable Weather: continued variably cloudy with a few showers possible Seas: 4-6 ft, E-NE swell

Sat, Jun 17 00: Light/variable or light S-SE <5 12: 150-180/6-11 near 03 40n/38w Weather: Variable clouds with a few scattered showers, maybe a squall or two Seas down to 3-5 ft, E swell

Sun, Jun 18 00: 100-140/5-10 12: 070-110/6-12 near 2 00n/35w Weather: Partly to variably cloudy, threat of an isolated shower or squall Seas 3-5 ft, E swell

Mon, Jun 19 00: 070-100/8-14 12: 100-130/8-14 near 0 30s/34w Weather: partly to variably cloudy, maybe a passing shower Seas 4-6 ft, E-NE swell

Lunch, Monday 06.12.2006

Lunch today is shrimp in garlic and oil with special spices from our friend Pierre, owner of Mango Restaurant in Barbados. Mixed greens salad with tomatoes and goat cheese.