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4/4/2006 5:47:00 AM
800 miles von Z town
Zwischen waypoints 1006 und 1007 ... noch immer vor dem Plan und leicht suedlich ab vom Kurs

Day 6 of 25 - School is back

TAG 6 VON 25 - Schulanfang und seekranke Kinder ... was haben die beiden gemeinsam!?

I am sure you can't wait to hear about school being back but hold your horses for now . first all the important sailing stuff .

SAILING UPDATE

It is day 6 and we were supposed to be in the trade winds now . where are they . well it seems even weather Don doesn't quite know though a very long winded answer . disconcerting when you talk to Don and you get some wishy washy answers . for someone who made a living of giving an answer when he didn't have one, he wasn't that good at it and it didn't give me the warm and fuzzies. On the other hand, we had a quiet day with winds in the low 10s mostly sometimes even 8-9 knots still from the North mostly . so we still haven't seen the trade winds. Seems we had a pretty good run to get here but it might take longer from here on the expected.

Just a few stats for the previous day, we went 148 miles at an average speed of 6.2 knots . still not bad despite the lighter winds. And don't forget for more detailed updates check out the Google Earth link on our website at www.lawur.com/tracker/ .

BOAT UPDATE

As expected, the windvane issue came down to a trim problem . all together, when using the vane we cannot really fly with as much sail area as we can with the autopilot because the vane doesn't really like weather helm too much. Talking about the wind vane, I did get a question from a non-sailor friend of mine and given that the email is under the topic school is back . here we go.

The windvane is a SELF-STEERING device (read autopilot) that is mounted on the stern of our boat . looks like it has a rudder that hangs in the water and the vane part on top, which is basically a pedal that tilts in the wind depending on what side of the pedal the wind blows on due to the boat changing direction . when on course, the pedal stands up straight. But here comes the fascinating part, the wind vane (pedal on top) when tilting one way puts a slight turn onto the rudder in the water which then in return moves the rudder to one side or the other because it is not straight in the direction of the water flow anymore and that movement from the rudder in the water gets translated into a steering input onto the steering quadrant which makes the boat change course. OK . sounds complicated, well it sort of is until you really see it in action but all you need to remember is that it basically steers the boat just by the power of the wind and the water running by the rudder that hangs below it . pretty damn cool, doesn't need electricity and the stronger the winds, the better it works counter to the electrical pilot that does have a harder time the harder the wind blows.

FISHING UPDATE

The usual casualties of flying fish and squid on deck . tomorrow the kids want me to dissect a squid . "great" idea by Capaz who did this as a science project . thanks Capaz for having me dig into this jelly animal with my fingers tomorrow morning. By the way, someone asked why the fish fly . hunting, running from pedators, showing off . my preferred answer/suggestion was that the girls are trying to show off to the boys because in the flying fish world there is a slight male underpopulation . LOL . see Don that was "I DON'T KNOW" from a former consultant and please don't ask me how the squid get on deck either but according to Capaz they can propel themselves out of the water pretty far though I have never seen it live but only had to clean up the aftermaths on deck.

FOOD PLAN OF THE DAY

Breakfast - Waffles with jam and Nutella (what don't we eat Nutella with!?)

Lunch - 2 diffferent types of chicken salads (fresh chicken that was and not yet cannned)

Dinner - Mexican Arrancheros in home made corn tortillas . Arrancheros are a sort of the Mexican version steak . very tasty but not as lean and this time it really was off the barbecue in the back because yesterday I actually bailed the job of barbecuing hanging over the side of the boat . today I had to stand up to it . eye eye co-captain

HIGH OF THE DAY

Not sure that anybody but Niki considers this a high but Niki is really excited that she got a full day of school back into the schedule; I have to admit I am impressed too though I feel for the boys who enjoyed their hiatus. Benjamin tried to pull the "I am seasick card" after he had played gameboy, read their cheat book for the Pokemon game, played with Sebastian and had no problems eating breakfast until Niki's high of the day hit him. Didn't get his way . man it is sexy to date a teacher.

LOW OF THE DAY

It's Niki's day to pick the highs and lows and tonight we are trying to fly the Jennie for the first time during the night; the Gennaker or short Jennie is a bit of bigger but light downwind sail that helps us go faster in lighter winds but requires a bit more work to take down then the regular Jibs we have rolled up on our forestays (we have a regular forestay and a solent stay as it is called and featured on more and more short-handed racing and cruising boats) . Niki doesn't like this but the captain ordered a more daring approach (not that daring considering that Capaz has been flying theirs for over 48 hours straight by now) at least for the start. In the end, it is me who has to go up on the foredeck anyhow and the forecast has nothing but light winds in it . let's see how long it will last . so far for the last 5 hours it has been a very smooth and comfortable ride with the Jennie because it stays open more then the heavy sail cloth jib and flops much less beside the added positive of more speed.

Mates, back to work, keep swabbing the decks in your offices and doing whatever you do . sorry the trip on Lawur is over for today . talk to you again tomorrow,

Robert and Co

TheSchmids Family Sailing on Lawur

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