SV Delos

As the sun rose during my watch this morning a grey, overcast sky was revealed. Winds where 18-20 knots and we were running downwind with the full main, mizzen, and poled out Genoa. The GRIB showed the wind building throughout the afternoon so we decided to put up the smaller jib to not be overpowered. The sequence for a sail change goes a little like this: First, you worry about getting the old sail down. This has to be done from the bow so we all put on our PFD's and harnessed ourselves to the boat. The 5-6 foot seas were moving the boat around quite a bit and we were taking a few waves over the bow. For these maneuvers we always switch to manual steering and turn off the auto pilot off so we can head up or down to work with the sail. With Eric at the helm we removed the pole from the Genoa and dropped the end to the deck. Brad then loosened the halyard while Kurt and I grabbed the foot of the sail and started bringing it to the deck. The idea is to get the sail down and gathered to the deck as quickly as possible. If the wind grabs any of the loose sail and it starts flailing around on deck stuff, including you, could easily get hurt. We got the sail down ok and started working on folding and stowing the Genoa. Kurt grabbed the new jib from below. To hoist the new sail everything goes in reverse. You need someone feeding the leading edge into the track at the forestay, while someone pulls the sail up with the halyard from the mast winch. These sails are big and heavy when they are dry, and when they get wet you can really tell the difference. Lugging them around on the deck and up\down from below takes a lot of effort. We're performing this maneuver with 4 people. I couldn't image being a single-hander on a boat of this size!

Shortly after the sail change it began to rain. We had a slight drizzle a few days ago, but this was real rain. Because the weather was so crappy we spent the entire day in the pilot house. I know this sounds almost like cheating, but hey if you have it than use it right? Who wants to get wet if they don't have to? So below we stayed. Kurt cooked up some tasty pancakes for breakfast and Brad heated up soup and made tuna melts for lunch. We cruised along warm and comfy with great visibility. It's just amazing how the weather has changed so quickly as we move north.

We were clipping along at a good rate of 8+ knots for most of the day. Because we were running downwind the waves and swell were also at our back so the boat was continually surfing down the faces of the 5-6 foot swells. While sitting in the boat you can really feel how the force of the waves and water act on the hull. As a wave approaches the stern the boat attempts to pivot around the center and push the bow the opposite way. The autopilot often over compensates so the boat is constantly swinging lower and higher than your intended course. As the wave starts to make more contact with the stern you can actually feel the back of the boat lift slightly. This is where you start to feel the acceleration from the wave. The wave accelerates the boat until it's sliding down the face. This continues until the wave breaks and passes under the stern, leaving a white froth on both sides of the boat as the wave continues on. The effect is very apparent if you watch the speed over the ground indicator on the GPS. Brad had the record for calling out the highest observed speed while surfing at 12.2 knots! I think our speed under sail at this point was around 7, so we were getting quite a burst from surfing. An amazing amount of energy contained in a single wave than can accelerate a 41,000 lb boat. It's controllable in waves of this size range, however as the waves get larger you can get into trouble by either broaching or pitch-poling. Broaching happens when you cannot keep the boat headed straight down the face of the swell when the stern starts to kick get pushed sideways. At some point you end up going across the swell instead of down it which can lead to problems if the face is tall enough. Pitch-poling is an even worse nightmare. If the wave is big enough you may gain so much speed that when you hit the trough of the wave your bow digs and sticks into the next face. The bow digs in and stops, but the stern is still moving. You just had a very bad day.

As we surfed down the waves everyone caught up on reading and DVD watching. There is a DVD folder on board with lots of Simpson's and Seinfeld episodes left from the previous owners. Brad of course found time for an episode of 24. There are some "sailing smut" magazines from last year aboard, including Lats & Atts and Cruising World. They're still entertaining even though they are old. I finished reading "The call of the Wild" by Jack London. I found the book while rummaging around in the closet in the aft cabin. Great and quick read especially since I just finished "Into the Wild." Apparently this book was a major influence on Chris McCandlass.

The wind and waves are supposed to build throughout the night so should be a good ride. I have the first watch (8:00PM-10:30PM) tonight. Today marks the half way point in our sail distance wise! We have around 1300 NM left to go, and if all goes as planned should be close to Neah bay by next Sunday.