Transatlantic Day TEN
28 July 2011 | Onboard TIDE HEAD
Susan
Day NINE we continued to make steady progress but in a slower lollygagging manner, seemingly pottering about here in the Atlantic with no purpose or direction - indeed we do have a direction but this bobbing to and fro feels less producitve for sure (lollygagging is what you did as a child - or were accused of when you should have been getting your chores and homework done). The winds were much lighter ranging from 11-14 and so every once in a while we had a good huge slap of the genoa; some of this of course caused by the huge rolling waves leftover from the gale force winds so when the boat would do a healthy roll from left to right the genoa is just a limp passive piece of fabric dragged along for a flogging instead of being its active, stout, sure and powerful self. By dinner time, with enough fuel onboard to make it nearly back to NFLD we started the engine and motor-sailed to keep our progress duly in the direction of Oban. By all estimates we have only 2.5 days left to our journey and at the current rate would arrive at 0200 on Saturday - something will have to be done about that / none of us are interested in a night landfall, and darn it, we've earned the right to enter the harbour at least at dawn if not broad daylight so we can drink in the awesomeness of the moment and store it in our memory banks forever! For the obvious safety reasons, we'll avoid a night landfall even if we have to lollygag about outsisde the harbour just to time it right. The Scotland tour guides have come out - I'd had them packed away but was not daring a look until the obvious - that they'd be needed. We've been planning our day trips and hope to get in a B&B excursion or two to the Scottish Highlands. To honour my mother's tradition, I'm also planning to plunk myself down and roll in a field of heather regardless of whether the guys care to join me. Day TEN is off to a robust start - so much for trimming off at least 5 pounds this trip; Peter is again in the galley making corn-beef hash for breakfast; over breakfast we reviewed Scottish colloquialisms so we can hit the ground running in Oban; ie. ben, brae, close, glen, loch, munro, & yett. Interestingly we found that although peppered with marshes there was not a word listed for that. We have 279 nm to go to get to the Firth of Lorne - the entrance of the harbour where we'll enter to Oban. With our surplus of diesel we are continuing to motor-sail in order to keep our heading pointed to Oban; the sea is flatter today - not totally, but much easier to tolerate when moving about on Tide Head. Even though the barometer is rising at nearly 1030.3 there's not a ray of sunshine anywhere, just multiple upon multiple shades of gray however beautiful in its own way. The temperatures outside still require us to be bundled up in our heavy sailing garb. All the best to everyone - Cheers!