We are making good progress Westwards under spinnaker in 10-15 kts of winds out of the East-Northeast.
Visibility remains very poor since we left Mindelo due to the persistent red sand from an African sandstorm. Everything on Nakee is coated in fine red sand, the ropes, winches, blocks, canvas, everything. Where is a good old Irish downpour when you need one to wash it all away? The full moon was barely visible and the 4 other boats we have passed were invisible to the naked eye despite only being 1-2 miles away. Haven’t been able to find any info from PredictWind when this might end and we can see blue skies again.
Yesterday I replaced a new but freshly dead bilge pump with a spare one I luckily had onboard, but not before high saltwater in the bilge made its way into a waterproof electrical junction box that an electrician back in the UK had drilled a big hole into…. This box has the connections to the mast head wind instruments and solved the mystery of why we were getting widely inaccurate wind speed and direction info. I have now modified the junction box with some spare plastic and epoxy and replaced all of the corroded speed connectors and will reinstate the junction box today with some sealant to make it waterproof.
https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Nakee/
