SailBlog

The storm is nigh!! The 8th Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...8 brass bells a ringing!!!

I had a very restful night, almost too restful. I probably could have flown more sail and gone a bit faster as the winds never did get above 10 kts or so ... I was expecting 15-20 and had set my sails conservatively... And each time my watch clock would go off, it seemed we were 'going fast enough for the wind or it would backwind'... It is a shift in my energy from the driving energy to try to keep us going as fast as possible, crashing along. I am going to have to be careful as I want to get home and if I don't really take advantage of the opportunities to make three degree days, I will start to average significantly less... In oder to get those good mile days, I have to keep us going...

This storm, like the first Tropical depression I encounter as I was west of the Aussi Bight, have both taken a bunch of email and emotional energy in the anticipation and have seemed to divert energy from just making progress on a rum line..necessary but frustrating.

This morning, I had a faithful email from Bob McD, nice and early, giving me the last low down on the storm, as I am waiting on this 'meteorological BOMB' they call it which is going to end up at 950 hPa pressure... a bit farther south and east of me. The storm actually is going to go swiftly over me at 989h, starting late this afternoon, with 8 hours of gale force winds and then high winds until tomorrow late afternoon... a 24 hour storm for me. The seastate will be moderate having started off with such flat seas, but it will keep increasing after the major wind is gone by.

It is nearly flat in the preceding hours now... it is quite ominous... the quiet and lulling sound; knowing that in 10 hours this is going to be raging at 35 kts gusting 50.. lucky for me that I am not nearing NZ right now...it is all very much a synchronicity... as I am going to get a good lift from it in the end...as I do most storms or fronts..they end up bringing the westerly winds where I make three degree days.

The drama isn't quite over until I get passed NZ as it is so far south, and it will take 10 days or so to get from Taz to NZ ... long enough for several systems to go through... it is all about energy..So far, it is remarkably manageable..thank goodness... I am old.. It just occured to me that maybe it is the incredibly low pressure that I feel...I am just heavy and feel weary though I am getting good rest and food...it is already at 992hPa here where I am ....going to drop a few more before the actual front gets here later today...

I am alll set for it... with my sails oriented as they need to be. It all depends on how quickly the winds build. I am set for it to take a bit to build..but once the real gale force winds start to blow, given there are 35kt wind flags and expected gusts to 50kts... I will just drop the main and get the jib flying on its own for the duration. The only additional sail change will be to reef the jib just a bit more...right now there is just a small jib but if it is going to gust that high, I will reduce the jib to a 'literal' 4 x 4 hanky or less...just enough to keep us moving in the lulls so the steering vane can steer.

As the day progresses, the 0400UTC hour comes... the hour Bob McD suggested that the pressure would drop to its lowest... it is still 992 and It seems that it is holding there... No wonder my head is stuffed up and I have a slight headache... that is really low. Then, just as I was finishing a cup of cocoa...I looked up and the sky was blue..the sun blazing... How is that? I am in the center of the storm, the warm front has gone by. Now it won't be long until the winds start. It was such a boost to my spirits after such a gloomy cold wet morning and the doomsday of the storm at hand... not that I didn't get outside and sing my hellos to the birds...

But the sun was a significant sign... I have had so many storms where the center of the storm has passed over me and the whole sky opens up in the midst of the darkness,...just for a short time and the the winds shift and the gale starts part two.

I had a particular storm in the North Atlantic on my way to Ireland. I had lost my self-steering rudder early in the trip and had been hand-steering for two weeks, relentless days.. I was in a huge trough of ugly squally weather for nearly 10 days and in a long term weary state of exhaustion, never sleeping as I had to monitor the steering 24 hours a day with bungy cords and sail balance as my only respite to having to actually sit in the companionway to steer.

I was a week from finally reaching Ireland. I had an SSB radio to get weather from, but had been having trouble hearing forecasts. I was able to hail a freighter I saw going by and he gave me a run down on an upcoming storm I was going to have to sail. I asked him if he would call my mom to let her know I was going fine...there was to be time later for telling stories... She didn't need to know how challenging this trip had been.

This was a storm that had a full on build up of 12 hours of gale from the SW. It was mid August, but still cold. The winds being from the stern, I had to be on deck most all the time...there were few breaks as the storm built and grew in seasstate. It became dark, the deepest kind of dark, the low ceiling of the clouds prohibiting any celestial light. When I would put on my deck light, it shone off the ceiling with an incredible aura. As the seas built, I was literally standing on my cockpit seats, hanging on to the dodger in front of me, One hand on the jib sheet to help steady me at times... while the other on the tiller or it was between my knees,.. I was riding a true bronco ride of a lifetime. ...

The phosphorescence shone on everything. The crests of the sea broke in green light. The water that rushed up the decks sparkled as the diatoms made their way along the line right into my hands.

The moment came when the winds began to hush... and suddenly the sky opened up to an incredible starry night sky, all my favorite northern hemishere celestial constellations there....and then it seemed so quickly, the wind shifted and we were off again. I had to steer far off course to manage to keep us running with the wind to be safe... by the time it was all done, I was well over a hundred miles farther from Ireland than when I started... and the next set of winds were not helpful.

Those were days of true survival skills, and the real challenges of exhaustion and bravery. The lengths of time sitting steering day after day after day...

So... all our worlds are relative. As I encounter these storms this trip, I have so incredibly many horror stories of past monstrous gales to imagine...in some ways they surely set me up for some traumatic replays of emotions of storms gone by... Though I am purposing to stay present. This trip, with the weather information I have, and the incredible blessings that have allowed me to slip through with moderate winds ... I am so thanktful...I don't know how I could do the kinds of storms I have done now...

I have to say that my equipment has gotten better and better... my steering vane...a Cap Horn..is the most brilliant, reliable, and functional steering vane...my Anam Cara, she steers always... Inspired Sanity is just an incredible vessel, rebuild after rebuild after rebuild, knowing exactly what it is like to sail the biggest ocean storms...my standards are higher than High... And I didn't get a 'different ' boat because the cumulative investment in IS over the years is what is making this trip the minimal risk venture that it is... she is built for these oceans...

All of these incredible experences fly through my being as I hear the winds increase and the seas build ...

There came the moment today...the sun now occluded by rows of squall lines to the west coming my way. I climb on deck and get ready...this time, for a real gale. Even as I was starting to reef sails, just for 'now'...I could feel it coming. There was no sense in wasting my energy. I set to getting the main all the way down, tied on the boom, the jib off the pole, and set to lee...just that 4x4 hanging... The hPa may even be a bit higher at 993...the storm is here. As I am getting sail out of the air, it starts really gusting and raining harder.. i have trouble getting the sheet in the clew of the jib to let go of the pole, several feet over my head... I had to get it...there was no question..it had to come down... It took several laps forward and back to the cockpit and finally a real tug to get the pole to spin..the sheet got itself wrapped once as the pole got spun...but it was down now.

I would leave the pole on the bowpulpit as I wold need it when the winds settle down, though the winds may be too forward on the beam to use it.. but I am going to let it ride there rather than on the deck. The lines all needed to be secured on the mast...otherwise they all end up finding their way over board..The ocean swell and sea hit the boat wth such power that everyting not tied down is washed overboard as far it can be.

I took a few minutes to just feel the huge winds, hear it, see it on the water...I got the gopro out and took a couple short videos... We are ready... We aren't moving fast...it is a conservative approach. The winds are SSW so that it is going to force me to sail ENE to keep the swells off the beam. To consider sailing foward of the beam means increasing the intensity of the winds as the boat speed is added to the wind speed to give us apparent wind, it is actually more wind than what is just blowing as we are driving into the wind.

I am fairly happy at this point..we made a fair amount of southing before the storm and are sailing more than 60*... not too bad... It is only for 12 hours and then, once the wind backs down some, I can point us with the wind ahead of the midships, beam, and continue easting...we will finally be heading on... I am south of Tasmania now... and only 5 degrees from going past the Cape East... hopefully two days... By Christmas I will be totally past and onward to NZ with a good stretch of westerly winds to get a head start on... I don't dare look to far ahead...I am just trusting there will be a good passage.

It is amazing... I climbed below... closed the hatch and it is a different world...yes the winds are howling and we are rocking and a rollin, but it is a tame rendition of what it feels above. IS is taking all the brunt...so far, it is mild, the most intense part of the storm is to be passing in a few hours and it should continue to gale through the night. I have been very conservative..as I did last night..I may be losing out on some real good sailing time as I am already reefed for the worst of it... but we are making 5ts... it is enough. Once the worst of it goes through, I will have to be pro-active to get on deck and set more sail so we can get moving...

Thank you Bob McDavitt for all your guidance and faithful attention to keep me updated.. it is great to have such detailed information of what is going to happen when... I can be ready ..no surprises.

My brother, Jeffrey, has some friends in St Thomas, he turned on to my blogs. Hi Jane and Ron Dicola... They let him know they were enjoying them...and thanks so much for following... Enjoy the holiday festivities in the islands!!!

I am pretty preoccupied today... lets see what random words of wisdom I can find to help me settle down for the night of galing... as I consder this ...I think of how precious it has been to be able to talk to Bob via Satellite, my mother...my grandchildren on their birthdays...

Keepin On Sailin On Caring... The only way I could have come to the sea to venture spiritually as I have, was with the confidence I have in this vessel that is so competent to carry me. The layers of investment are vital... she is tested and true...Yet I am diligent as well to be the informed and fast mate that takes great care to keep us safe and sound.

"The voice is the sound of human consciousness being breathed out into the spaces. Unlike things of clay which contain themselves, the soul always strains beyond the body. A stone can dwell within itelf for a hundred million years, take every sieve of wind and wash of rain yet hold its stillness. From the very moment of birth, consciousness is already leaking from our intense yet porous interiority. To be who we are , we need the consolation and companionship of the outside... Utter self-containment is either a divine gift of the mystic, or the burden of one who has beome numbed and catatonic because the outside was too terrible. The voice is a vital bridge that takes us across the perilous distance to the others who are out there.... " John O'Donohue Divine Beauty.

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

�"Sent from my RedPort Aurora Satellite Terminal http://www.globalmarinenet.com/product/redport-aurora/ www.globalmarinenet.com www.ushuaialogistics.com www.xaxero.com www.transmarinepro.co.nz http://www.mwxc.com Chris Parker weather services www.jamestowndistributors.com www.bellplantation.om (PB2) www.caphorn.com www.marinemotion.com http://sayitright.com www.yoloadventure.com www.islandplanetsails.com www.baconsails.com