The wind was a bit too much on the light side today. We averaged just over six knots. We changed direction (off our course) for much of the day to catch more wind. We did the best we could given the conditions.
Distance to destination (DTD) 500 nautical miles
But it was sunny and lovely.
We switched to three-hour watches last night. So much better!! The moon was full (or nearly so), so it was very light when the moon wasn’t behind the clouds. Continue reading
Cindy’s single biggest challenge while sailing is being able to throw biodegradable stuff off the boat on the first try. Too often, the product hits something on the boat and has to be thrown again, or it simply doesn’t make it off the boat. So embarrassing! 😉
The ocean was friendly yesterday. Swells primarily from one direction (really!), about three meters tops. At 6:30 p.m. yesterday, we had 798 nautical miles to go.
The wind was light this morning, so we unfurled the Screecher. Within 15 minutes, a squall started to develop, so we furled the Screecher. Continue reading
Well, we had ourselves some weather yesterday! All day.
The wind was erratic, both in terms of direction and speed. The boat speed topped out at 21.3 knots when we were surfing a wave. Top wind speed was 42 knots. Happily, that didn’t last long, and we had only two incidents above 40. The peak wind was caused by a fast-moving squall that passed by us about three miles away.
That said, the day was challenging. The seas continued to offer up waves from different directions, with different intervals and varying heights all day and into the night. The biggest swells/waves were five meters, and they were NOT rare. Continue reading
Let’s start with yesterday.
The wind returned! We sailed all night with just the Genoa. At 9:30 a.m., we added the Screecher to sail wing-on-wing. By noon, the wind had picked up to 20 knots, so we furled in the Screecher. It then began to rain. By the time the sail and sheets were secure, Yulia and I were soaked through on the bottom half of our bodies, as we’d neglected to don rain pants.
Genoa and Screecher Wing-on-Wing
Kirill then deployed the main, and we made nice progress at 7 to 9 knots. We were also sailing in the right direction. Bonus! Continue reading
Mother Nature has not been cooperating. Starting two nights ago, we motored 18 hours (through the night and into the next day). We sailed from about noon to 6:00 p.m. yesterday, then had to go back to motoring. We motored all night. One good thing about this: The light wind made it easy for us to empty four jerry cans of diesel into the tank. We also did some housecleaning. 🙂
It is 3:00 p.m. as we write this post. We have been sailing since about 8:30 this morning. We got tired of the light wind, so we changed direction to get to the wind. Unfortunately, we are not sailing in the direction we want to go. Continue reading
We neglected to post yesterday. No reason, we just forgot.
Yesterday was our 13th wedding anniversary. Yulia and Kirill gave us a beautiful agate sea turtle. In Russia, it is symbolic of a happy family. Yulia and Kirill’s generosity continues to touch our hearts.
Gift from Kirill and Yulia – Agate Sea Turtle
A brief recap of yesterday: We were close enough to a storm to the north of us to experience confused, whitecapped seas. When Kirill was on watch from 8:00 p.m. to midnight, the boat speed reached 12.1 knots when it was pushed by waves. If you aren’t a sailor, trust us, that is very fast! Continue reading
We took a right turn! We had been on a NNE heading until this morning. The reason for the more northerly direction was to avoid bad weather. We are now sailing east (since 6 a.m.), downwind, after having been on a close reach for seven days.
Michael and I were not on watch during the change. We woke up this morning to pleasant sailing. Both the Screecher and the Genoa (the latter on the starboard side) are *usually* full. Wing-on-wing is what we would call this configuration. This is the first time Michael and I have sailed this way. It isn’t a first for Yulia and Kirill. Continue reading
The wind died. We began motoring at midnight and have not stopped yet. The ocean is very calm, which makes for a lazy day on the sailboat.
One might say that this is the calm before the storm. We expect to hit good winds soon.
Today is my (Cindy’s) birthday. I woke up late, on a catamaran on the Atlantic Ocean. It is sunny, the winds are sufficient, the sailboat is wonderful, and the company is exceptional.
Yulia and Kirill welcomed me to the cockpit with hugs, cheek kisses and a birthday gift: a beautiful scarf they purchased in Antigua. We will post a picture when we are able.
This morning we had the 12-4 a.m. watch. Winds were light and from a slightly “wrong” direction. We had to sail a bit off course to remain sailing. Yulia had to motor the last two hours of her watch. Continue reading
Today is the day one of the two engines died.
But, I digress. Since we last wrote, we have primarily had beautiful sailing weather. The sky has been sunny, and the wind has been good for the most part. We’ve used the Screecher sail several times. It is a wonderful sail, given the right conditions. It enabled us to reach a speed of 8 knots with only 12 knots of wind. Pretty awesome!
