skies were heavily pregnant with rain.All different shades of grey,from
dark ominous grey to the softest dove grey,it would be a real challenge
to capture all this in pencil.The wind veered and soon we had wind from
behind,speeding up gradually.Across the waters I saw the rippling effect
as the rain started dancing in our direction.I did not waste a moment to
furl in the headsail,then turned the boat into the wind and dropped the
mainsail.Closed all the hatches and upped the revs a bit.A minute or two
later and it is raining all around us,as far as the eye can
see,beautiful,refreshing rain,washing our boat clean from head to
toe.Amazing to see all the formations as the clouds can no longer hold
and the water falling from the skies.
Back to last night,Brad worked really hard to bake huge rolls,make huge
hamburger patties,fried some onion rings and chips and then the battle
ensued.We ate and we ate and we ate and ate some more.Brad won the
battle,Pieter also won his battle but I just couldn't anymore.250 g
patties just proved too much for me.It was ultra delicious and our
craving for hamburgers have been dealt a heavy blow.Stuff that food
comas are made of,but a little restless with so much protein to digest.I
was glad that my watch was fom 9 to midnight last night,giving my body
some time to recover before I went to lay it down after my watch.
We also had our first bit of stronger headwinds last night.17 kts and
with a lumpy sea,we had a little to much headsail out.Lumpy is a new
nautical term I am borrowing from Paul Rackstraw who also enjoys
following our adventures on the oceans of the world.He is the owner of a
Maverick catamaran called Catarina.He took part in the recent Mykonos
Regatta and described some parts of the ocean they had to navigate as
lumpy.Never heard it before used as nautical term and you can watch a
short video clip of Catarina on YouTube,search "Catarina Mykonos" and
you should find it.
Brad was on watch and time to learn a few new tricks.Our spec sail chart
will show that we can sail 15-20 kts of wind with main 1st reef and
headsail between first and second reef,which was how he had the
sails.The seastate however had us going a bit to hard into
"potholes",slamming once or twice and the boat shuddering at the
impact.These boats are built very strong and can take a bashing like
that,however,by furling the headsail in quite a bit more we were
navigating the swells far more gently.Obviously we had to give up some
speed,but getting there in one piece is more important than getting
there quickly.It was pitchdark and one couldn't see the state of the
sea,just a glimpse now and then when lightning in the clouds illuminated
the water for a split second.Don't get me wrong,both my crew are
excellent and I don't think any skipper could wish for better crew.Just
yesterday I observed Brad faultlessly executing the whole exercise of
getting the mainsail and headsail up in no time at all,all by himself.We
all learn all the time and some things we can only learn when conditions
allow,like last night.
We do expect some steady winds to settle in today.Sailing long distance
is not only a physical challenge,it poses challenges in many other areas
as well.It is also not you against the elements,it is you at one with
the elements,with yourself,with each other.And when it all comes
together,it is pure bliss.There is a lot of thunder and lightning in the
air this morning.We have dropped the extra piece of anchor in the water to
conduct a possible strike to the water and have also disconnected the VHF
aerial from the radio.Normally a strike would hit the aerial and run down
and through all the PC boards of our instruments.We hope to prevent that.
Our current position @ AM 07:30 UTC 02*35'N/24*06'W.Distance to go
3945nm.ETA 10/04/11.
Hope the week ahead will also be good to you.
Paul
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