Hi
Kim, Anna and Finn and everyone else!
Things
have been active for us out here in the middle of the ocean. A couple of days ago we lost our wind. We fought to use the pole and run wing and
wing for a while but we just flopped around.
Then we tried a broad reach and flopped and flopped. Finally I gave in and started the engine. We took the sails down to minimize the damage
from all the slapping; the rolling from the swells got really bad. Grandpa and I could barely hang on. Eventually we regrouped and decided to raise
the new storm trysail as a riding/steadying sail. That helped a lot and we looked cool because
it is bright orange. Though it didn't stop
the rolling it made it more manageable.
We set off on our way a bit north of our rhumb line because we expected
a north wind to come in that night or the next morning. I took the opportunity to bake some cookies
and while enjoying them in the cockpit Grandpa jumped up and shouted you
wouldn't believe what I just saw.
Apparently a dolphin jumped six feet out of the water and just missed
chomping one of the cool seabirds we have been seeing so many of. Earlier that day we had discussed how free
those birds were and how amazing that they lived in a place with no
predators. Well, I stand corrected. We figure dolphin probably tastes like
chicken because it looks like that’s what they eat out here. A few minutes later Midwatch was surrounded
by dolphins. We have had numerous visits from the dolphins way out here in the
middle of the Atlantic. Grandpa got some
nice video shots. While we were on the
bow watching the dolphins we could see lots of giant jellyfish, the size of
beach balls, all through the water column.
Sometimes the dolphins would evade the jellyfish and sometimes they
smashed them with their mouths and exploded them. At one point we looked up and saw that we
were going to hit something. It was a
white plastic lawn chair. We hit it but don’t
worry, no damage. Grandpa says it is
Kenny Chesney's chair, whoever that is.
Speaking
of chairs, grandpa has been really enjoying the cockpit chair that we got him as
an early father’s day gift. He even
named it. He calls the chair ‘Mark’ and
we have grown really attached to him.
The only problem is that he just kind of sits around and does
nothing. Once in a while Mark gets in
the way and we have to send him down below to fend for himself in the
cabin. Mark is indispensable for naps
though...he holds your head and keeps you warm.
That
evening, while under engine power, I took a cockpit shower because the engine
gives us hot water. We have barely used
any water so far so I decided it was well worth the splurge. It also gave me a chance to try out our new
shower assembly and I can report that it works great! It was my evening watch and Grandpa was sound
asleep down below. Sometime during my
shower the wind filled in from the north and the batteries hit full charge so
it was time to pony up and get the sails back up. I woke grandpa up and asked him if he had any
opinions on getting the sails back up, etc.
That wasn't a good idea. He was
still half asleep and is generally not very excited about sail handling at
night. Anyway...I directed him to take a shower and then suit up for battle.
It
was dark and raining and we were motoring at just under 5 kts into an 18 kt
headwind. The first thing we needed to
do was get the storm trysail down and packed in its bag at the base of the
mast. Then we started to get the
mainsail ready...but before we could raise it we had to do some boat
repair. Way back on our first night out of
Beaufort, we had gone through a big thunderstorm while in the gulf stream with
35kt winds resulting in some damage.
Turns out the pins that are supposed to keep our turnbuckles from
turning on the shrouds (cables that hold up the mast) were under sized and had
allowed the turnbuckle to loosen. I had
found the problem that night and put a rope around the shrouds to keep it tight
and that rope has been on ever since. So
we got out tools and new pins and set to retention the shroud. We think we did a good job and I feel much
better. After that we raised the main
and put in 2 tight reefs and then raised the genoa and took off. By this time it was Grandpa's watch and he
was rewarded with, and thoroughly enjoyed, the best sail of the trip; under
16-20 kt winds on a tight tack but with no waves. This was amazing so far out
in the middle of the ocean.
Unfortunately those conditions were not meant to continue. The wind and seas built all through the
night. The next morning, while drinking
our coffee, I jumped up...just a few miles away was another sailboat. We sailed near the boat for most of the day
but there was no contact. The wind and
seas continued to build all day forcing us to reef the genoa again and
again. Last night it peaked with steady
25 kt winds with gusts up to 28kts. The
wind, however, was not the problem...the problem was this nasty current that we
have been stuck in for over 24 hours now.
We seem to be losing anywhere from 1.25 kts to 2 kts and it is causing
the boat to heel more than usual and also makes the waves a lot nastier.
Last
night when I went up to relieve grandpa at midnight he was cold and miserable
and when he stood up his legs gave way.
He recovered all right but he was beyond tired and freezing cold. We have been saying all day that the north
wind is just different than the other winds.
Anyway, I made it halfway through my watch and decided to creep down
below to rummage for gloves or mittens.
I tried them for a while and decided that it was just too cold to stay
outside. I tried lying down on cockpit
cushions on the cabin sole with full weather gear and then I thought....it's
time to fire up our new heater. Grandpa
woke to a nice warm and drying cabin.
The wind and waves have dropped a bit but because we are still stuck in
this awful current the motion isn't as good as it should be. I decided grandpa needed more nourishment
than we have been getting so I made him eat three fried eggs, bacon and an
orange and then sent him to back to bed.
He looks better now.
We
are currently:
16:35
UTC
Heading
Southeast on a heading of 100 degrees true (the best angle we can muster)
36
43.446N
47
10.808W
Speeding
along at close hauled at 4.5 kts. Our
boat speed is closer to 5.5kts but this counter current has us dragging through
the mud. We plan to carry on like this
for as long as the wind holds. I will
download some weather gribs in a few minutes to help strategize. In any case it looks like our daily mileage
will fall far short of average for a while.
Love
you and looking forward to hearing from you,
Dad
and Grandpa
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