Watch #40
Date: 08/28/2016 Time: 0700 – 1000
Latitude: 11° 35. 721 N Longitude: 54°47.498 W
COG: 302° (Saint Vincent) SOG: 6.6 knots BTW: 291°
Wind: 4, east TWS: 17.1 knots Trip: 3,057 NM
Sail Plan: Full Main, Full Gib, No motor
NOTES
The moment I went to bed, at the end of my last watch, it started raining on the poor Polish girl and the only thing one can do in situations like that is listen to her scurry about the deck closing any or all the hatches that might be open, pull up my warm dry blanket and drift into the sleep that you only get when listening to the rain.
This morning the sky was full of clouds and because our crossing time zones and adjusting accordingly, the sunrise has wandered from the 4 am – 7 am watch to the 7 am – 10 am watch.
It’s 08:02 am and I have had one cup of coffee.
It’s amazing to watch people release their patience in a timely manner as a destination draws closer. As we close in on Grenada it also reminds us that we are nearing our freedom from the authority of the bear captain, and as this thought rises slowly to the surface of reality, the whispers of discontent seems to be getting louder and more frequent. There are some that find it very satisfying to eat nutella in the middle of the night as a “stick it to the man” with a “devil may care” attitude. As for me, I don’t seem to be affected as much as the others but I haven’t been on the boat as long as they have either. I’m not starving to death while traveling…good…I’m sailing across the Atlantic ocean…good…these are my two staple thoughts that shrinks the issues to manageable sizes.
Oh man!,…some flying fish.
The Scotsman dreams of beer and a plane ticket, while the polish girl longs for peanut butter.
Watch #41
Date: 08/28/2016 Time: 55°43.663 W
Latitude: 12° 01.102 N Longitude: 55°43.663 W
COG: 305° (Barbados) SOG: 6.5 knots BTW: 287°
Wind: 4, east TWS: 14.9 knots Trip: 3,120.86 NM
Sail Plans: Full Main, Full Gib, No Engine
NOTES
As we inch closer to way point 68 on our little screen and our overall trip counter rises and rises, I find myself not overly excited about reaching our destination. The small little island in the Caribbean sea holds a few questions that I am very happy avoiding, mainly what comes next. I am quite happy at sea. I would like to see my family and friends, and have plans of trying to convince some friends to join me, but I’m quite content in the small living that sailing offers. I do wish that I could have learned more about sailing while I was out here instead of learning “how to be a terrible captain” or “Ten ways to cause a mutiny” , clearly you don’t get to learn what you want, when you want it.
The flying fish are smaller as we get closer to land but they explode out of the sea in schools of twenty or more, so what they lack in size they make up for in pazazz!
Lunch was baked beans with hot dogs and something else I couldn’t remember and a piece of fresh bread, I covered it in butter and jelly. “It’s called JAM!” the Scotsman says with a smile, like he is trying to keep me from embarrassing myself in front of the others.
17:46 We approaching shipping lanes
Watch #42
Date: 08/29/2016 Time:0100-0400
COG: 311° (Barbados) SOG: 9.3 knots BTW: 282°
WIND: 5, East TWS: 19.4 knots Trip: 3,176 NM
DTW: 283.76 NM Sail Plan: Full Main, Full Gib
NOTES
Now we are flying across the surface of this fine ocean averaging 9 knots of boat speed and 20 knots of wind, my top speed reaching 11.4 knots Surface Over Ground. We are of course heading for the wrong island but when you are sailing here are no straight lines. Around 02:30 am I saw what looked like the lights of an oncoming ship, but soon it faded away slipped into the “ghost ship” category.
I’ve had one cup of coffee
My first thought when I saw the “ghost ship” was that they cut their lights of in order to sneak up on us and overtake us in shadow….pirates!….but alas it would be very difficult for them to do because “we have the wind”…I’m very hungry right now…clearly I am hallucinating.
There, I ate some crackers/cookie things, that seems to have have the beast inside me. There are hardly any clouds, which means lots of stars…but there is a haze, which also contributed to the ghost ship sighting I imagine. It’s 03:21 am and I look forward to sleep. Dinner was a spicy rice dish with chicken tenders, the chicken tenders surprised me. I followed up the meal with my last piece of pineapple that tasted like rusty metal….Mmmmmmm….ruuuusty metaaaall!
Watch #43
Date: 08/29/2016 Time: 0100-0400
Latitude: 12°22.781 N Longitude: 57°52.431 W
COG: 280° (Grenada) SOG: 5.7 knots BTW: 277°
Wind: 4, East TWS: 13.6 knots Trip: 3,260 NM
Sail Plan: Full Gib, Port Engine 1,800 rpm
NOTES
After flying through the water at 11 knots yesterday the wind has died down and we’ve changed course and the sail plan in order to take us straight to Grenada. We dropped the mainsail and let the head-sail out with a rig that would allow it. The port engine is on to assist the sail running at 1,800 RPMs, all this because of the a change is directly behind us. Catamarans are not effective with the wind directly behind it, because there is no back-stay it can’t take to force of that sail position.
We have moved the clocks back an hour so I will get seven hours off instead of the usual six, it’s hard to believe that one hour can make so a big difference but it really does…I’ve had one cup of coffee.
A full bag of muesli appeared in the cupboard in the middle of the night with no explanation and the crew is once again confused on why we have been lead to believe that we were out of breakfast food. I wonder if the bear thinks that he is doing a good job. He started playing a computer game a few days ago that requires you to manage a the lives of an entire civilization, and on several occasions I have passed by and heard the screams of the peasants sounding like they were trapped in a building that had caught fire, or perhaps on a boat being driven mad through food rations and insults. I bet he thinks that he doing well in the game as well….I wonder if the peasants get muesli.
Flying fish were found dead on the deck this morning and in my mind there is only one person that I know who could be responsible for these senseless deaths…or they misjudged their flight pattern during the night…or it was him!
I only write when I travel 