Author: Ulrich Fingscheidt

Last night started pitch black. The clouds thinned out later and I had some magical sailing on the highway to the moon.

I am following the sun on his (no gendering here?) summer trip to the northern latitudes. It looks like the zenith angle is a bit higher every day as I am progressing northwards.

Nice passat sailing, listening to Bach Johannes-Passion, Rilling 1985.

I am having a relaxed time in the Southern Atlantic.

The sharks just can’t keep their jaws off my turbine. The bearings are so noisy by now so I stopped using the hydrogenerator.

My spirits are rising, the three days with winds between 20 and 30 kn are over. The photo has been taken on rhe day before it started blowing.

The pink symbol at the left end of the pink marking line is Easy on day 7 of my South Atlantic Crossing. The ocean is full with ships. My perspective is totally different. I have not seen a ship since 4 days, not even on AIS 40 nm around me. I am all alone in the middle of nowhere. To get used to this unique sensation of loneliness is one of the crucial challenges of solo ocean sailing. (Graphic by marinetraffic.com)

I am really looking forward to sailing in warm climate again.

Last night I crossed E 11° 03′. This is the longitude where this trip started on Fehmarn Island in the Baltic Sea. I have now crossed all meridians of the globe. Also, I have passed all time zones of the earth.

With a loud bang the padeye for the main sheet block broke when I tensioned the main sheet yesterday. The padeye (red line) and the rubber stand-up base flew into the sea. The breaking load of this block is 2,2 tonnes. I guess it was a fatigue break. At the moment, I can’t use the mainsail. I will do a provisional repair with Dyneema when the waves are smaller. Once arrived on Fernando de Noronha I will try to use one of the spinnaker standup blocks which can later be replaced once I reach Antigua.