Becalmed
October 6, 2019
Days at Sea: 302
Days Since Departure: 370
Noon Position: 44 48N 129 03W
Course(t)/Speed(kts): 0
Wind(t/tws): Variable <5
Sea(t/ft): S4 W2
Sky/10ths Cover: Clear 0
Bar(mb): 1026+
On-deck Temp(f): 78
Cabin Temp(f): 73
Water Temp(f): 63
Relative Humidity(%): 67
Magnetic Variation: 15.6
Sail: Sail down. Drifting.
Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good (nm): 81
Miles since departure: 38,458
Overnight the breeze stayed just strong enough to keep the sails quiet and Mo in steerage. But with sunrise, the sea went flat. I drowsed sails at eight o’clock, and we drifted until after noon.
One ship. One albatross, blackfooted. A deep blue sea below our hull with pale columns shimmering downward.
A lovely way to spend the middle part of the day, frankly. I cleaned the cabin and washed; changed into clean, lighter cloths for the warmth and read Will Durant’s The Life of Greece until I fell asleep. A faint wafting of air through the cabin woke me, announcing it was time to make sail.
We are 200 miles W of Salem, Oregon and 500 miles NNW of San Francisco.
Wind is light again, now W. Mo makes 4 knots SSE.
Durant’s Greece. Top shelf reading, my good man. I don’t know a lot of sea captains, but if you are representative, then sea captains must be an intellectual lot. I’ll bet Plato was a sailor, wasn’t he?
We are light hearted and giddy that you are now so close to home, so close to Jo, and so close to such a successful conclusion to a fabulous record breaking undertaking… and depressed at the realization that your wonderful Figure 8 emails will soon stop coming to our inbox.
THANK YOU RANDALL!
That is a very relevant point! Maybe Randall should have fortnight on land and then do it all again?