Living Life at full tilt
07 February 2012 | Boca Chica, Dominican Republic
Judy, and the weather is perfect
Picture from last taxi ride in Cuba before the Windward Passage.
Port tack or starboard tack, what makes the difference? Well, I can answer that one! It's a matter of what gets wet, and what flies where! Let's see, since we left Panama on December 12, 2011 I've been seeing life at slightly different angle. I've learned to move about the boat like a cat on the prowl. Timing every move, and keeping my body weight low to the floor boards or cockpit sole. Small things are not so irritating anymore. For example, I really don't mind sleeping at night in the cockpit wearing light weight fowlies that feel s like silk when stuck against my skin when wet. Waking every hour to stand my watch is a pleasure. Maneuvering the double harness to get behind the wheel , almost always guarantees a salt water douche! No, I don't mind. I keep telling myself this is fun! My glasses are so caked with salt it's like seeing the world through a kaleidoscope. If I take them off I can no longer read the instruments. I figure who cares? Torben's sleeping! By day break my muscles are fatigued. I try without much success to drink a hot cup of tea which blows out of my mouth with every attempted sip! I keep telling myself this is fun!
God help me when I have to use the head. Going down below, grabbing hand rail to hand rail I step over cushions that have fallen to the floor, mixed with various charts and cooking magazines. My world is at a 30 degree slant with the occasional elevation of what feels like a few hundred feet. Tivoli's beautiful wood interior has streams of water running down from leaking hatches and vents. No biggie, I'll clean that up later. I don't even mind that in an attempt to get to my forward head to do some tasks that are totally pointless like washing my face, I discover the back scrubber had fallen into in the forward head . And low and behold, there is my toothbrush lying in the shower sub pump that is full of brackish water and whiskers! I rinsed it off and squirted it with a little Clorox before using it again. (Those vaccinations have really come in handy!)
My vitamin supplements have included a half a dose of Sturgeon, three times a day. We eat meals that I've precooked in the previous anchorage. Chicken and canned corn has become our staple when under weigh. I've discovered hot sauce, Torben has discovered HP sauce. Torben drinks Tang. I prefer fresh water in a bottle rimmed with salt. Sort of like a virgin margarita , I tell myself.
These are the little things that are endured while sailing 1,600 miles up wind. Last night Torben and I declared to each other, while sitting at port Boca Chica just outside Santo Dominico "We are tired of sailing upwind." Tivoli, Torben and I have sailed 1,600 miles upwind so far this season, with 300 more miles to go before we can crack off. We have been fortunate enough to have Ross help us on this leg from Cuba to the Dominican Republic. Are there any other sucker out there?
Got to go. Tivoli needs fuel and preparation for this second to last leg of the "Amazing Race,The crossing of the Mona Passage". We should arrive in Ponce, Puerto Rico in 48 hours. I think I'll give my teeth a good brushing before we leave!