Monday, July 31
Day Seven, a week at sea in the Atlantic Flow, Earth’s Ocean. The seas are huge and tumultuous again…and again and again.
One of my love/hate design elements about the Baba 30 is the rubstrake. When contrary seas come from abeam , the waves smack the rubstrake and it can be a bit intense down below decks…and again…and again!
Dena’s 1-4 pm watch
3:32 pm: I (Dena) sincerely hope that the weather gets better between now and sundown, like the (week-old) forecast said it would. The boat’s motion has been a challenge since yesterday and it’s been tough. Makes me think of people who do this kind of trip in boats with less ballast, less keel…more motion. Every feature of this boat that keeps us on track and something like steady is something I’m glad we have!
The funny part is that it’s not that bad compared to what I was nervous about. (And we could still get some of that. We’re one-quarter of the way there in space, whatever that means in time.) It’s just laborious to even sit still because there’s nothing still. I remember the theme from the SF-Hilo trip becoming “no coffee breaks on the ocean”. You can scream at it to stop, but it won’t.
The antidote to feeling powerless (when that’s not what I want to ponder) is cleaning something or checking our course or refilling the water bottle. Slowly, carefully, because having it go poorly negates the purpose of the exercise. So it’s all focused mind, controlled body, while pouring water from one container to another on a rollercoaster.
James’ 5-6pm watch
The lead-line on the port side of the Monitor keeps jumping out of its cam-cleat. I (James) tied it down but we’ve never seen a linear line jump out of a cam before…WTAFO?! By 6:00 pm the seas started to subside…better, still huge, still fangy and pissed off, but better.
Tuesday August 1
James’ 3-6 am watch
Yep…I (James) got smacked in the head by a flying fish. I managed to save that one by tossing it over but the five others that littered the deck weren’t so lucky.
Dena’s 6-9 am watch
6:38 am: The seas are still big but the wind is less furious. We were at 100% on power because the wind generator was keeping up with the demand, so I shut it off about 1 am for a rest from the noise. It’s good to have that luxury!
James is totally over the coffeemaking process in these seas. I get it. I’m going to do it this morning, but if it’s a disaster I’ll join him in boycotting it. Sigh. It’s about how everything has to be held. Removing the coffee grinder and canister lets all the sauces in that cabinet fall and go flying. And that’s just the first step!
Part of the answer is adding baffles where we know exactly what goes in a particular spot. The grinder and canister are a great example.
After that, though, there’s putting the percolator basket and stem somewhere while filling it with water.
I won’t bore you (or myself) describing it further, but it is not worth it except I’m an addict and also like the feeling and we have no alternative. We’re about to be in the market for instant coffee or coffee syrup but there’s nowhere to shop around here!
