Time for some blog housekeeping!
Yesterday morning we rolled up 3,000 hours on the engine. That is 125 days of sea time. 89% of those hours have been put on the engine since leaving for this around the world journey. We calculated the fuel burn so far on this passage. We are getting the worst fuel burn we have ever gotten at 1.7 miles to the gallon. That is what happens when you run consistently at 1900 RPM. We feel moving fast through the dangerous area is worth the cost of the fuel.
We heard on the BBC that the French Navy has been following the captured yacht for 600 kilometers, and that the crew and yacht all seem to be safe. Eric did the unthinkable and talked on the VHF to another yacht. The other guy was a part of the radio net, but we were never able to contact him on the SSB. Eric heard him talking on the VHF, so Eric hailed him, inquiring about what to expect ahead of us, since he was already in the Red Sea. We were already out Continue reading
We’ll start with the only scary event on the passage so far. Yesterday afternoon we saw a boat ahead of us in the distance coming towards us. We changed course. It was still coming towards us. We changed course some more. It was still coming towards us. It turned out to be Continue reading
The first priority of the day was to get checked out. Muhommed had to go out of town on an overnight trip, so we would be doing check out on our own. We went to the office. No immigration or customs officers were there. We waited, along with a group of other people. We talked to ex-pats who have been living there a while, as well as an Omani guy who is also an agent, waiting to do a check in on an American freighter ship.
After an hour, an officer arrived, the same one who had checked us in. The group mobbed him. Eric tried to get his attention, but he basically ignored us. He helped everyone around us, and then Continue reading
We slept well last night. The anchorage is calm. It was cool. Christi actually pulled out a blanket for the first time since getting to the tropics. Since it was cool, we could shut the windows and window covers, so it was dark and quiet. Ahhhh. If only every anchorage could be so nice.
The first chore of the day was to wash Kosmos. We know we said we were going to do it in Male. But, it rained hard every day, so we justified procrastination with the fact that at least Kosmos wasn’t getting any dirtier, and who knows, maybe the rain would make the job easier down the road. On passage, Kosmos got very salty from the head winds and seas. It isn’t supposed to rain in Oman for Continue reading