SailBlog

where there is becalm, there is a holiday. Today was a new day. I had an unusually long sleep last night with steady light winds. I woke groggy as long term exhaustion was catching up with me. I just wanted to sleep but I was sore from laying too long. It was gorgeous outside and easily I opted to get up and get going. I was instantly overwhelmed by the peaace and beauty of the sea. there were several stormy petrels circling around. Later in the morning, on the far horizon, I saw the blowing of water and jumping dolphins, a large pod, though they weren't interested in us or come near. I brought out my irish whistle and played them some tunes as I always do. The theme of today has been joy...true laughter and fun. I consider humor and true fun as the one element of life that has it's best expression amidst others, a social experience. It is something I miss at sea, humor. I am way too serious and task oriented. I can feel elated, exhilerated, sensual, grateful, emotional....but rarely do I truly laugh alone. It is the animals and birds that give me a chuckle alone on the ocean. There are moments, Wise Mother Ocean and I have a chuckle and fun. When I am sitting on deck and a stray spray across the deck catches my face, it is a kiss from her. Part of changing my orientation from land to the sea, is regaining that sense of fun and joy. Regaining a childlikeness that can bring delight at simple things. As a child,, I often wandered off alone in our neighborhood or woods behind our house and could just imagine away and be delighted by the trees an birds. As my children grew up, it was one of the wonderful things about being a mother, the ability to become childlike and play with my children. When Bob and I take care of a little bijon spaniel dog, Oyster, he gets us to wrestle on the floor and play all kind of games. I miss that. An activity that I love to do and often is one of the things I don't do when I am too task oriented is to swim. I have always said that I know when my life is in balance because I am singing and swimming. Well, I have been promising myself that the next time the winds die and we are becalmed, I am goingy swimming. The water has been drawing me and my body longs for the cool water and loss of compression on my back. Today was the day. I had another arduous day trying a new tact for doing Celestial Nav. I studied a different book ( I have 4 different appoaches on board). It required taking an hour to get an early sight and then a later sight when the sun was descending at the same height. I could then get the mean time between the two and it would be 'noon'. I finished the sights and tossed it all aside. I would do the paperwork later. I was going swimming. What an incredible feeling, the cool water, splashing away. I did a bit of my water yoga, exercises and had a great bath. No longer will I moan about being becalmed. It will just become a time to swim and take a holiday. This is not my own original idea. When I was becalmed in the South Atlantic during my first circ, I actually became depressed, I was so frustrated that I could not move and the boat wallowed so. Somehow, my moaning about the calm made it back to my website (as did anything that I texted, little did I know) and to my brother. He took the time to get on the Iridium message site and sent me a text..."Donna, stop complaining. Go on holiday...just enjoy doing nothing". His words obviously still ring in my ears as I hear his voice as he would be saying it.. I will not neglect to do that this trip. It is not a race...It is a journey...an experience. Only gratitude!!!! I have a bit of light winds coming according to the forecast. I am at a position now that i am playing with the Azore High, a classic term for the high system that always sits somewhere in the middle of the North Atlantic baring a huge storm. I chose to leave at this time as the high is low enough that I could scoot across the top of it giving me tradewinds...SW winds. But now that I am nearing the Azores, a decision will need to be made as to when to take the turn SE towards the Cape Verdes Islands and into the South Atlantic. I will be watching that High system to try to stay out of the calms from which it gets its name. There is always a still center to the area. So, as this last storm front has gone west of me, it has shoved the high a bit north. At 40 1/2 degrees, I am just at the top edge of the high. There are SW winds above and NE winds below me, rather strong just south of the Azores...at 37* N. I am just at the edge of a calm area, SW winds still above and light eas terlies below. It is a thin line and God forbid I wander down into those light easterlies. Ugh. So I am being careful to maintain a course that is just north of 90*. But unless I go north a full degree or more, I am going to have light winds the next few days. So slow I may go but hopefully move steadily to make my way to where I can grab the NE winds and start heading SE. The Verdes are at about 28* W so if I make it to 40 W up here with NE winds, I shoud have a good SE course. The farther south I go, the more easterly the trades. A beam all the way. So.... There are squalls about tonight. Winds are not steady, so it may not be as peaceful a night tonight..but it will be as it is. Enjoy. Keepin On Sailing On a Dream...When the spirit is free, it can find joy and gratitude, translating to be happy. Do the things that make you feel good without excuse. It will empower the challenge of tomorrow.