Slow Roll
(Originally Posted Oct 20th.)
Last night the wind decreased precipitously from the 12+ knots we'd been enjoying to about 5. So the 3am watch rolled out the code screecher sail and we went into our "light mode", meaning we do a lot more hand trimming and hand steering to make best use of the limited wind. It makes the night watch pass more quickly for each of us, but it's a heck of a lot of work! Going half our normal speed sucks. Forget the 160-mile day we were counting on, and hope for a mere 100. Fortunately, the seas are very light now, so it's easy sailing (think sailing in Puget Sound). Now, it's twelve hours later and nothing has changed. We're still sailing in the same mode under clear blue skies and the occasional puffy white cloud. The crew is totally in the passage rhythm now, we stand watch, sleep, eat, read, do a boat chore and crap. Sorry to be blunt, but that's the daily routine. Hum, wonder who's cooking tonight and what's for dinner :.
Oh, we do spend considerable time gathering weather information from the Iridium and weather-routing software. We also chat on the SSB radio, call home on the Sat phone and count the miles' sailed versus the rhumb-line distance - looking for and any significant milestones to celebrate. This morning for example we crossed the half way point of our passage at 1,176.83 nm's. Hip hip Huzzah for that! Maybe the old man will grant us have a Captain's Hour this afternoon?
Cheers from Huzzah!