Ship's Log
04 December 2008 | Mid Atlantic Ocean
David Hantke
Water Temp 77
The mark of Zorro! That's what our track looked like last night. We had been enjoying what probably has been our best day of sailing to date. The winds had been in the 15-25 knot range and (with a few exceptions) we had been managing to keep our boatspeed up generally around 7.5 with occasional surfing up to 9.5. This lowly scrivener was up at about 0400 for one of those little breaks necessitated by life and age (and coffee) when he checked out the cockpit. Robin (the helmsman of the moment) noted
how pleasant the evening had been. The winds were warm and strong, the boat was moving well and he had even surfed up to 12 knots. A single well-lit passenger liner was on the distant horizon, the only ship/boat that we had seen all day. Visions of palm trees and rum drinks graced my dreams as I returned to bed (it was a night off for me). Well, two hours later I was graced with a cold drop of water leaking from the hatch above my bed. Furthermore, the motion of the boat had changed markedly from
the usual heave, surge and surf to an uneven slamming motion and the noise of the surf and changed into the roar of raindrops from above. After attempting to ignore it for awhile we all (adults) tumbled out of bed to deal with the situation. The wind had backed 100 degrees and what had previously been a pleasant beam reach to the west was now pointed SSE and slamming into disorganized waves. Furthermore, the rain was heavy and the gusts were up to 35 knots. There was no substantial visibility. It
seemed like every hatch onboard was leaking and rain/spray had blown in through the salon door and covered the floor with messy goo. What fun! Anyhow, after allowing the sun to rise and visibility to improve we set about jibing back to our original course and reorganizing everything aboard. Foul-weather gear was broken out, lifelines deployed and the deck secured. Excepting Robin having been hit in the side by a flying fish, everything soon returned to normal, the sole evidence of the night's travail
being a few wet bunks and a 6-mile jagged "Z" (actually, a reverse "Z") in our track. Hence, "the mark of Zorro".
The spinnaker wrapped again last night. It seems to have a knack for doing so precisely at dusk. Anyhow, we had a community decision to douse it for the night after having unwrapped it, based primarily upon visibility, windspeed and the desire to avoid unnecessary complications at night. We're all happy it wasn't up during the squall.
Speaking of flying fish, three more came aboard last night, although the news department pleased to announce that the boys apparently decided that, indeed, they smelled too bad. They all now "sleep with the fishes". I'm sure that we will find something else to smell bad within the next few days.
The Wii is now in and functioning, a condition that came to pass last night at 0200. Mutiny would appear to be forestalled, therefore, until our supply of games is exhausted. The project turned out to be substantially more than I had predicted, what with this being a 12-volt system and the captain's desire to avoid festooning the main salon with spaghetti-like wiring. Now all that needs to be done is to pop in a disk and flip a few switches. Very nice.
Dinner last night, as usual, was delicious. Mahi mahi with a nice yogurt and chopped red onion sauce accompanied by potatoes, squash and tomatoes. Rumor among the crew is that a nice curried dish is on the schedule within the next few days.
Returning to the omnipresent threat of possible mutiny, this scribe is pleased to report that the junior crew has unanimously decided that of all the adults, I will be the last to walk the plank. The reason for this largesse is unclear, however I remain thankful that my doom will transpire after that of the others. Beware of the children, for they have a lean and hungry look.
Fair winds...