SailBlog

Full moon coming: remember these guys..the southern and northern face of the 'man in the moon'

The Gulf Stream and northerly winds are a definite oil and water combination and we have been at it for the last 3 days�... tacking or edging close hauled to make the angles. It has been an incredible day, as the winds have built from 10-15kts yesterday to 20 gusting to 25+ over night and today, they have stayed up, squalling with each passing squall cloud.

But the approaching front and front that just went through are all sending off waves from every point of the compass rose, colliding, leaving huge troughs that IS falls 10 feet into, landing as if on concrete�... but IS keeps taking the abuse. Sea water crushing over the port rail and deck as she careens over one huge wave to climb into another, but the angles are varying�...no rhythm to the seas�... I call it Celestial Horses�... the way the hoof lands in the water and the water blows up around the hoof then all falls back into the crater left behind.

But there is an end in sight to the immediate northeasterly winds. The blessing is the front coming, the center north enough that I will be in the southern quadrant enjoying SW winds; Brisk, but off the stern�...and tonight the winds should begin to clock fully to SE, though still 20kts and gusting to 25�...We are at the latitude of Diamond Shoals, the SE point of Cape Hatteras, still enjoying 7-8kt speeds in the Gulf Stream, and we should continue through the night. But by early morning, we will have stayed on a northerly course while the GS heads off to the NE/ENE on its way to Ireland. The approaching front will be diminished for me if I can bare a tad to the west and avoid the added seas from the Stream.

But by Sunday, the good ole�' northerlies will be back again. The �'mystery gale�' is going to be a very weak front but it will come from south of me leaving me in the north quadrant with lots of northerly winds for two days�... it will be a slow-down, but I will be well ahead of schedule�... and the turn-around from that front is going to bring westerly breezes that build to SW winds by the 24 thru the 26th �...so if I am not home by then, I will have a fast track to finish the passage.

And likewise, the forecast is looking favorable for Bob�'s delivery up the coast�...he will also be caught by the second gale winds near Hatteras, but will tuck into the Intercoastal Waterway, and by the time he reaches Norfolk and heads back offshore, he will have light winds up the coast�...at least that is the way it is stacking up to�... it is a speculative as we know. You never know�... Bob and I may pass each other yet on the way.

I am well �'tenderized�' by the G forces against the hard places below�... so I should be nice and palatable by the time I arrive in RI�... all those northerly winds and tacking finally behind me. It is looking like it will be a nice SW breeze that ushers the Welcome Flotilla up the Narragansett Bay for my arrival. I am so excited for my family to be treated by Halsey Herreshoff to a sail on Sv Rugosa to join me on the Bay. The kids will have stories to tell of having slept over on the amazing yacht. Oh, I can hear their voices, their laughter; each vying to tell the next part of the story. I can�'t wait to hug them all, looking into their eyes to tell them how very much I love them and have missed their childlike wonderful energy and love they share with their Noni�... We have a whole summer ahead to �'play�'�...

I so hope that as many as want to be able to join us will be able to�... I just have to trust for the timing. And for any who will not be able to join us, Bob and I will be heading to Florida to bring Bob�'s SV Calypso to Bristol where we will spend the rest of the summer. We are looking forward to catching up with everyone, meeting many each of you who have shared in the blogs all these months, becoming dear dear friends and comrades, so many faces to attach to your names�...

Keepin On Sailin On Caring�... As I am typing�...the winds are shifting. The magic of the sunset and changing temperatures which tend to usher in new patterns�... I can finally fall off the wind a bit and hope that we will have a good night of less dramatic conditions below�... Hallelujah!!

Fairest of winds and the love of the oceans Only Gratitude Donna