After last nights adventure with the parasailor we planned to drop it as soon as we felt the wind cool and rise in speed during the night to make it easier on all for rest and to avoid any damage to Sephina. After a good days sailing, some music and delicious humus dinner we felt the cool signs of a squall at around 2200 and dropped the parasailor and ran under jib only. Boat speed dropped a knot or two but it was fortunate we did as 20 mins later we were engulfed by a gusty rainy squall for over an hour which would have been pretty stressful with too much sail up and we still made 6+ knots with just the jib. The rain stopped at the beginning of my watch at 2400 and the usual light variable winds came, which also would be useless trying to fly the parasailor. We continued under jib only through the night with some motoring as well to charge the batteries.
We had hoped not to have to motor to charge batteries but a couple of things mean we will have to occasionally, one being the fact that the parasailor shades the solar panels from around 1600 onwards, the other being it's been quite cloudy.
A nice relaxed morning, sailing in the warmer treade winds. Jen decided to throw the fishing line in and 10 minutes later hooked a 60cm mahe mahe. As she was pulling it on board Olga noticed something following the boat...shark??. Nope it was the mahe mahe's mate. I had neglected to tell Jen that mahe mahe have one mate and often after catching them the mate will follow the boat for hours. I knew that would put her off catching them but now I couldn't withhold the information any longer and had to spill the beans. Her reaction was as expected and soon she was rapidly de hooking him and trying to breath life into him to return him to his mate. He floated a second when she returned him to the sea and then swam away happy again with his love and with a great story for his mahe mahe mates.
An hour later Jen decided to try again with the idea that she could just set any mahe mahe free. Soon after we caught another, but this time much smaller and with no mate following. Olga and I convinced in he was a juvenile and probably had no mate yet, and as he was bleeding quite a bit Jen conceded that it would be best for him if we ate him for lunch :). Mmm beer batter mahe mahe
Parasailing...well it's lots of fun but it definitely has it's pucker moments, like surfing at over 15 K as the wind rises and wondering if it's too late to take it down or if the wind will back off again. Today we have had a great days sailing at 7-8 K and now the wind has risen a bit and we are doing 8+ and surfing at 15+. Sephina is handiling the conditions beautifully and we are sailing with the swell and trying to decease yawning as we come off the waves.
At this rate we will be in Martinique in 5 days...time to slow down!
Nov 27
Half way! About 1500M covered in the last 11 days and about 1500 to go. We dropped tmentioning the 15K surfs and haven't had it up all day today as conditions are quite changing with a lot of cloud bringing variable wind direction and speed but it's been a relaxing days sail, averaging around 6K in the 15-25K conditions. Swell is around 2.5m and comfortable from behind. Lots of flying fish on the deck this morning. Jen had a cooking morning making pasta and tuna. We chatted to freedom II as they passed us on VHF and it sounds like they have had enough of the rally swell and squalls. The weather forecast looks good but cloudy till Sunday which I guess is what's bringing the squally conditions. Hopefully after then it will be the traditional trade winds at least during the day time. All at well and rested aboard Sephina. Balrog has been pretty quiet and lazy and probably wondering why we haven't stopped and dropped anchor for a swim for so long..
Tonight we watched captain Ron together and ate chocolate and sugar coated peanuts. Life's good :)
Sleeping on a boat...
Last night after my watch I lay down in bed and found it a bit difficult to fall asleep. The motion of the boat was a bit off and the swell at an odd angle. As I lay there I tried to imagine how to explain the experience to someone who hasn't felt it before, so here goes...
It's a bit like laying in a waterbed, but the bed is moving so imagine a irritated bear laying next to you rolling and turning and trying to get comfortable, all the while rolling and turning you. It's like your muscles have to work constantly just to lay still. Laying on your back can help or stuffing pillows under your stomach to spread the pressure.
Now imagine four dwarfs holding up each corner of the bed and lifting and lowering each corner 20-30cm randomly. The dwarf near your head has a strange sense of humor and slaps his hand hard on the wall next to your head at irregular intervals. Sometimes 30 seconds between, sometimes longer, but always when you least expect it.
Now for the sounds... Imagine another three drawfs with water utensils. One has a bucket and cup and continuosly dips the cup in the bucket and pours the water back in from varied heights. Another has a couple of water bottles he likes to shake close to your ears and the third drawf jumps up and down in child's inflatable swimming pool.
Add to those sounds the dull whine of the autopilot keeping us on course, assorted creaks and groans as Sephina twists and turns over the swells, and the occasional surfing sound which is kind of like driving fast down a gravel road and you get an idea of what it's like to fall asleep on a 40' yach mid Atlantic.
Sometimes these sounds are covered over a little by the dull sounds of the Diesel engine if there's not enough wind or if the batteries need topping up till the sun shines on the solar panels.
So while laying there imagining this strange twisted fairy tale of creatures around me I drifted off and had a deep long sleep, dreaming of goldilocks, Snow White, red riding hood or some other strange concoction put together in my sleep by the sounds and motions as I slept...
A nice relaxed morning today, Jen cleaned and cooked. We all ate,
Parasailor is up at around mid day and we are making great progress toward Martinique. The Sky is clearer today and more settled weather with a steady 20K NE breeze pushing us along
Very funny. And very precise. My husband is in the odyssey too. Thank you for taking time for sharing your impressions.
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