PPJ Day 18
19 April 2016 | The Pacific Ocean
Vandy
Sorry for the delay in posting. Radio propagation was nonexistent for the past day or so, which means no email, no Sailblogs, no Gribs...
I think I spoke too soon, when I characterized yesterday as wet. Yesterday wasn't wet...TODAY was yet. Yesterday's wet was just practice for today's wet.
For the past 24 hours, we've been parked under a gigantic cloud (we can see it, and the cheery little yellow X that marks our position, on our satellite pictures) that alternately visits upon us howling squalls or numbing calms in a seemingly random fashion. And these aren't the usual "twenty minute squalls." No. These are the multi-hour variety, that keep your adrenaline pumping the entire time. All the while dropping bucketfuls of water. The associated snarly seas roll SCOOTS from side to side, or twist her sideways, or wash her decks, making life down below interesting. Imagine trying to make a meal, where anything you're not hanging onto could fly across the room at any time - including yourself.
Our shower area is strewn with wet shirts and wet skivvies, victims of visits to the cockpit or onto deck, as needed to sail the boat. Maybe we should have invested in some lightweight foulies....it's too hot for our regular ones. The cabin floor is carpeted with our cockpit cushions and princess chairs, moved down below to keep them from absorbing the rain. The wet mattress topper from yesterday's bed leak is lounging on the cabin table, in an attempt to get it to dry. Every handhold in the cabin has a towel hanging from it, that's been used to dry bodies returning from forays outside.
So yeah, it's been a wet couple of days.
The wind has been fluky, too, coming mostly from the NE, though occasionally also from the N, the NW, and sometimes from the E. The promised SE trades are nowhere to be found. And even the ionosphere has gotten into the act: radio propagation has gone from bad yesterday to worse today; we weren't able to hear many boats on the PPJ Radio Net this morning, nor were we able to send or receive anything over the SSB radio - no Sailblog updates, no email, no Gribs, no weather discussions. Maybe tomorrow.
We've had company in our dampness: through happy happenstance Sylvia and Tom and their crewmember, Bruce, on s/v Cinnabar, have ended up in the same piece of ocean as we're in, so we can check in with each other and commiserate on the VHF from time to time. Also, some of the times when the weather got particularly snarly, it was nice knowing someone else was nearby. And inexplicably, after not seeing another boat for many days, we've crossed paths - literally - with an Ecuadorian fishing boat and a cargo ship today, both coming within three miles of us. We had brief conversations with crewmembers of both vessels on VHF 16, to make sure that everyone could see everyone else on either AIS or radar, and just to say hello and have a chat.
But on the bright side - because in my world there is always a bright side - I saw a new bird today. Some dark, gull-sized seabird with a forked tail flew behind our boat in the high winds for a little while. I haven't looked it up yet but I'm sure I haven't seen a bird like this before. Also, Eric and I didn't have to use our own water to take a shower today. In fact, we took several. And, we've been able to have great text conversations with Nick and Kelly, and also with our friends on s/v Impulsive, who are a little north of us. And, weather never stays the same for long; we'll eventually see blue skies and fair winds again.
And, the biggest feature of my bright side - we should make landfall within the next two days!
Deck Check: are you kidding me? Miles in last 24 hours: 145 miles, for an average speed of 6 knots Total miles: 2675 Miles to go: 230