Saturday night we fought off sea sickness as the sun set. I spent too much time in the hot humid salon staring at a computer screen trying to get satellite or single sideband internet to send my post and an email to Donna. As the last light of the sun left the sky it was exceedingly dark; the crescent moon was not up yet. Our watch saw the winds go to 25 knots apparent. The trusty repaired furler did its job as we furled in the Genoa and replaced it with the smaller stay sail. During the day the world around us is all sea; we can see up to 10 miles; the curvature of the earth limits how far we can see on even the clearest day. On a dark night like tonight, the limit is the edge of dimly lit Bella Donna. Only the radar is watching out for objects around us. I think of the dead whale we almost hit last year in the South Pacific in broad daylight. The radar would not see a whale or a cargo container that had fallen off a cargo ship. I decide not to think about it.
The sea sick feeling stays until sleep overtakes me again. I decided to sleep in the fly bridge again as it is truly wonderful. We are opening our hatches in our cabins when we are in them, but I still prefer the superior breezes on the fly bridge.
Sunday, today is beautiful. The red sunrise brings to mind the sailor's warning "red skies in the morn sailors take warn". However, the day unfolds to match the weather forecast which is perfect. It is so good we plan to put the mainsail up today to try and hasten our passage. It is too early to discuss our expected time of arrival. Maybe after the doldrums on the other side of the equator we can estimate. Speaking of the equator, we do not have anyone on board to initiate this trip. Everyone one board has been initiated. I have to keep the details of initiation a secret so as not to have crew cancellations on future equator passages.
Fishing lines in, no fish yet. We saw a few birds, gulls, yesterday, but nothing today. We raise the main and test the new boom preventer that keeps the boom from swinging in rough seas. Ropes and pulleys capable of supporting 12 tons attach the boom to the new stern wench. This allows us to raise the main and achieve 8 to 9 knots even though the true wind is slowing.
God Bless Bella Donna
----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see:
No comments:
Post a Comment