Wednesday August 2
Day 9 to Horta…
1194nm to go on this leg with 620.8nm behind us. All is well in the verse. Then out of nowhere…
The seas are huge…again! We also got caught up in a foul current pushing us north so we had to tighten up on the tach to a very close reach and that put us at odds with the swell…it’s not at odds actually, it’s more like a grinding angle than opposition.
Took a hard fall from the windward settee just before lunch…that’s gonna bruise!
Dena just took the 4-5pm watch and eased the sails and the helm out a touch…I think it feels better.
Dena’s 6-7 pm watch
6:18 pm: The old forecast’s doldrums could still take over, but we pulled out of a countercurrent and are now sailing well on more of a beam reach. We’d been getting lots of splashing and I’m not excited about a wet ride. Nice to chill out the motion, increase the speed over the ground, and stay drier.
James called a ship that was getting close earlier today, but the guy wasn’t approachable for weather. There’s another ship coming up from behind and we’ll call them when they get closer. It’ll just be good to know that there aren’t any tropical storms forming or coming through the area.
Dena’s 8-9 pm watch
8:12 pm: I brought us a little further into the wind now that we are clearly far enough north of the passing ship. It’s not as nice a ride, though. Some of the big waves right on the beam have us heaving sideways and the odd one breaks on the hull to splash into the cockpit.
It’s been a weird day weather-wise and not getting less so. The sun fell into a blanket of gray about three fingers above the horizon. Visibility is reduced to about 7 miles…or at least that’s where the ship came into view. Beyond the regular clouds, a haze covers the whole sky.
Thursday August 3
James’ 3-6 am watch
Rapid fire lightning in a straight line north to south…a super-moon illuminating the entire storm system from above a solid layer of high Cirrus…raindrops the size of cherries…thunder from abaft…we did not get struck by lightning.
Dena’s 6-9 am watch
7:12 am: The moon was obscured all night. Wet, blustery, nothing to look at…we stood our watches lying down below. Between the AIS alarm to warn us of ships and periodically checking our course, it was pretty chill for a rough night.
Now, the sun is behind clouds but we’re in a big bright blue patch. It’s not going to be days of gray after all!
