Ground Hog Day
22 March 2009 | Pacific
Scott
Is this today, or yesterday? It is blurring together already. This may be because it looks a lot like yesterday, or perhaps because we have been sleeping in such irregular patches it is difficult to say where one day ends and the next begins. On the positive side, this is not a bad day to be stuck in. The air is warm, the sun is out, the water is still a gorgeous blue and as the waves break behind us each one is topped in snowy white foam and edged in turquoise where the sun shines through it.
The breeze is steady and we have not touched the lines for over 24 hours. Our self steering vane loves this point of sail and for the last couple of days we have been along for the ride. Watch-standing responsibility is looking around periodically and checking that we are on course. This is definitely not the fastest point of sail for us though. We keep talking about putting the main up as well and trying to find a reaching angle that would maximize the boat speed. Today this effort was postponed first by a scheduled check in on the radio net, then by lunch, then by a nap, and so on. So far we have not mustered up the initiative and are rolling along at about 5 knots. This would be respectable until you realize that we are moving at about walking speed and have over 2000 miles left to go.
Last evening, Mary and I were both struck by the absurdity of what we were doing. It is pretty pleasant though and look at all the time we get to spend together.