Ad Astra's Log

Ad Astra's Log

July 17, 2016

Currently anchored in 15 feet of water in the outermost part of Great Harbor, JVD to catch as much of the gentle summer trade winds as possible.

Blue skies with 15% puffy white clouds, temperature about 92 F, sea temp about 83F.

Ran the generator for 2 hours this morning and made some more water, plenty of water in both tanks. Fuel is still above 3/4s on both tanks after 20 days. Provisions are fine, picked up some bread and eggs this morning, having a full chicken for dinner.

My laptop is struggling at between 2-10% battery, I do not want to turn the generator on as we have 12.8V on the mains and the solar panels are doing their job. So this little portable 12VDC inverter delivers some amps for about 30 seconds then switches off, and then again on again in 10 seconds. It amuses me. I am typing away in the shade up in my flybridge with some classic Beatles going on, and still in my underwear at 5pm

Cold brew coffee on board is working amazingly well. I cannot believe I ever used heat to make coffee before. Simply toss 16 ounces of coffee into a 64 ounce container and wait 16 hours. Strain, poor over ice. Acid-free strong coffee. Attempted to use the grinds for a second pass, marginally passable weak coffee, would use under duress in the future but not as a regular thing.

We are here at JVD for the next few days to acquire our Open Water PADI certificates at JVD SCUBA. Today the boys did the most work on the boat: rigged jacklines around the boat, drained and scrubbed the bilges dry, and setup an easy guide to translate the colored meter markings on the chain to 5:1 scope of water in feet.

Other than tie a some random fishing gear on the fishing pole (after I remembered that I actually have a fishing license in the BVIs), I have not done anything today. Just re-read how to care for a marine toilet, lots of posts on the cruiser's forum, and supervising the boys' work, I have done nothing. A very strange and pleasant feeling. I thought about inviting Kaiwen to paddling a see-through Kayak that they rent here, but she looked happy knitting and I am pretty content just reading. Maybe I will gather the ambition to edit some of the new drone video!

📍 Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands

Originally posted on Facebook on July 17, 2016.