Fast
March 25, 2019
Day 172
Noon Position: 51 40S 55 21W
Course(t)/Speed(kts): ENE 7
Wind(t/tws): WxS 20
Sea(t/ft): W10+
Sky: Altocumulus, clearing
10ths Cloud Cover: 7
Bar(mb): 1013+, rising
Cabin Temp(f): 48
Water Temp(f): 42
Relative Humidity(%): 86
Sail: Broad reaching with working jib and main; one reef and two, respectively.
Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good (nm): 170 (Yes, that is correct.)
Miles since departure: 23,485
Avg. Miles/Day: 137
Leg North Days: 5
Leg North Miles: 536
Avg. Miles/Day: 107
Our fastest day in months! Frankly, I wasn’t sure we could do a straight seven knots for twenty four hours any more.
Wind came on strong last night from the NW. The forecast called for velocities in the low 20s…so, what we got was an unvarying 30 knots for a full eight hours, which we took just foreward of the beam with three reefs in everything.
A very uncomfortable ride, if I may be blunt.
I slept more on my bunk’s cushion back than on the seat and actually didn’t sleep much at all due to the racket. In the cabin, I moved around on all fours. Making coffee in the morning felt like a trapeze act. And pooping? Well, let’s just say that it is practically an act of valor to do any business in the head when Mo is in such froth. You take your life into your own hands in there.
But we were fast! And that made the domestic difficulties worthwhile.
Of course, now we pay for that speed. The wind has vanished; down to 10 knots, and we’re being thrown around like a raft in rapids on the leftover swell.
I think Mo and Monti are eager to see the sun and feel some warmer water passing the keel and will make the best of all that the wind gods will offer. You’re intake and output needs are not something they need to consider 🙂 Hold Fast Randy! Would you mind white boarding a projected course path for us. Thanks for taking us all on this amazing journey.
Loved reading about that intake and output!! Shows us that Randall is human when we think of him as being way above the human level!!! I wonder, Randall, does the head face fore and aft, or athwartships? I always like a head that is mounted fore and aft, with a minimum of shoulder height of cabinetry on the outboard and inboard side of the head compartment! I could not bear a toilet facing athwarships as you are either being thrown back against the lid, or being thrown into the companionway depending on what tack the boat is on! I wonder what MO has?