SailBlog

I am amidst a blow...but it is a blue gale and the temps are still warmer, 57* so it is so much more manageable. The barometer is dropping fast though and it is going to get a lot worse overnight...the winds are gusting now to gale force of 35kts. I have only a hanky of a jib flying and 'we are flying'. I made three degrees of easting yesterday, over 144nm, as well as made a half degree of southing.

I have had to run with the seas in this storm to avoid a knock down from being too perpendicular to the huge growing waves. The wind is nearly NNE. It really isn't going to back either to the NW....the winds are going to back straight to a SW shift... staying at 30+ kts for a bit, but then to moderate. Last time though, it really didn't moderate or 25kts is still a lot of wind so it stays rough.

This front is being compressed as it comes up against the high I was in the last 24 hours, creating higher and higher winds in that 'squash zone'. Then, this front goes right to another one that is a bit slower to pass. I will have a longer lead up of real NW winds at 25kt that will peak at 30kt just before it shifts SW near the 19th.

Interestingly, though, by then I will be nearly to 75* E and this front is also stalled from moving east by that same high system...So as I am sailing east, I am sailing right back into the higher winds of the backside of the previous system... Wildness for sure...the winds will back to the S and blow 25kts as I catch up to it.

There is also a huge high system which moves south from the west but stalls also as these systems all compress. I should download a Grib for the area east of me just to get a look at how it is all developing there. It will be interesting to see the the forecasts for the following week, leading up to Thanksgiving.

I was counting on that high system to provide some much needed down time to cut back the jib sheets to fresh line at the clew of the jib and just basic cleaning and maintenance. We have been running hard now for quite a while. But it may be stalled from moving east and until the next front comes up from the west, squashing it all one more time. Well I can imagine I will see temps in the 60s and some sunshine. It sounds so good. We will see how it all pans out.

I am finding it hard to practice my meditation again in the high energy of the wild winds and building seas. It all seems to grab my attention continually and there is a level of adrenalin that keeps pumping away. I haven't seen this much wind since George's Banks, which is miraculous in itself and I am so grateful...Though this is a full on storm system, not a frontal boundary so the seas are going to build to dangerous levels...And II is managing it all very well. We are fine...

At least I am warmer now...hallelujah...I can type and knit...sudoku without freezing...I hope that this is a trend, not just a momentary high...

I am desperately feeling the need for a focus off the weather right now so I will get to reading on the hero's jourmey and that will rile up my writing study, which is a help as it the thing that keeps me focused on work that needs to be done and the need for time...I have much to do before I return back to land and I need to focus on getting those things done. I am not ready to be home despite my emotional attachment that is strong to wanting to take a break from the sea and see family.

Eventually, length of time out here will take its toll on gear, like my jib sheets, and there will be more things to deal with... but we did great with the II refits ....things are going well. Yet, I need to get on with reading..that helps. I have a couple of others book that will also open my view to see the beauty around me, plus as often as I read Tolle and DeMello, the lessons are still new as I haven't mastered them yet... I am restless at this point, still heading for the half-way point to home.

This trip is hard, not just because of the sailing or the conditions,, but because the skills I want to gain are that hard for me to acquire or else I would not have sought such a challenge as this one. It is so hard for me to stay centered and become peaceful... the,greatest gift would be to master eliminating the negativity so I can live in a positive flow of energy. I am just trusting that I was right...and that nine months will be the charm...Things will be 'right'. If time it takes, time I've got.

As I type, this front is heating up. The alarms are going off on my barometer as the pressure is dropping so fast enough that it is flashing gale warnings...from 1017 yesterday to 1004.9 now. Interesting, the temperature has stayed mild. So...I have had to turn the course more downwind to help the steering to not round up into the seas...we are now on a heading probably SE, nearer to 150*...but it just has to be. I will make less easting but we have been flying and it will not hurt to go a bit south by any means. In fact, the faster we go, the longer we stay in the storm given we are moving with it.

By morning, the winds should have shifted to SW...it will be a long night as it continues to escalate...especially the seastate...it can easily double in height in another 12 hours of blowing 40kts... so... II is battened down and sailing like a champ.

Please do keep us in prayer...not because there is any real risks that are impending..but because I am seeking to be at peace in it all and your prayers are a great comforting energy.

Again, it is an incredible blessing that I have come so far and this really the first gale I have not been able to avoid.

Thank you all with all my heart.

Keepin On Sailin On a DReam....Time, the maker and breaker of the emotion of happiness, while eternal living just is happy.

Fairest of Winds and the Love of the Ocean Only Gratitude Donna

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