Hello, all. It’s been quite a ride thus far. We’ve been having some great winds (25-30knots) but they’ve all been dead behind us. We were able to get quite a bit of “southing” done and now we are working on “easting.” This is all just in time for a big swell and winds coming from a low off of Bermuda. I can’t imagine the seas being any “swellier” than they are now. It’s a rollercoaster with a slant. Everything shifts from side to side as the boat surfs
down the waves. The mattress on our bunk has been sliding back and forth with us on it. Every time I open a cabinet, I have to make sure I’m prepared to tackle anything that comes tumbling out the cabinet. I have to time my steps with the lurches of the boat. These swelly waves are supposed to be with us for the next day or two, in fact they are supposed to get worse tomorrow when we expect 15-20ft seas. Oh, goody.
As I’ve mentioned before, the winds have not been helpful to us. They are pretty much right behind us out of the Northwest, so going Southeast is difficult. Since we don’t have a spinnaker sail, it’s difficult to keep the winds behind us and still make progress safely. So we go a little east then we go a little south. We’ll get there soon enough. (By the way, if I had to guess, I’d say late Sunday night or early Monday morning.)
Howard’s seasickness seemed a little better today, but at some point his patch fell off and he’s now feeling out of sorts again. It’s going to be a long night so everyone is getting shut-eye whenever they can. Everyone is getting a little tired. Even when we sleep, it’s not very restful. There are all sorts of sounds while you’re under way: the hangers rattling around in the closet; the ropes slapping against the hull; the wires in the mast clanging against the inside of the mast; the seas outside the hull slamming against the fiberglass or splashing up on deck; the spices in the spice drawer rattling against each other. The most worrisome sound is that of the safety harness being put on while someone goes to the front deck to change a sail plan. We are getting into a routine so we’ll be more likely to grab shut-eye when we can. But tonight there seems to be squalls surrounding us, so I’m certain will be awake more than we’d like.
Knock on wood, nothing seems to have broken, but we are only half-way through the trip. Which reminds me; we made our offering to Poseidon this afternoon. It’s a tradition (supposedly) that halfway through the trip you’re to take a shot of rum and thank Poseidon for keeping you safe thus far and until you make port. We each took our shot and then gave one to Poseidon overboard. (Sigh, what a waste of rum.) I guess the offering to Poseidon worked, because shortly after that, George landed a Mahi Mahi fish. It was both beautiful and delicious. (See pics) Fish Tacos and Sushi for lunch!
Gotta go. There’s a squall approaching us, according to the radar. Need all hands on deck to shorten the sails and batten things down. More later.
