Hmmmm did I say to often today how perfect our passage has been? Did I remark how my expectations had been exceed too many times? Was I poking the bear??
The night began with me thinking I was late for my shift only to find both Graham and Tim in the cockpit. I asked which one of them was going to give up their seat so I could do my watch and Graham was like “I just got here. It’s my shift.” Doh!! Damn. I was so mad that I left my bed.
Anyway, fast forward 3 hours I begin my actual shift. I had planned a romantic last evening with me, the ocean and the stars. I turned on my Bosch jazz playlist and began my star gazing and then ……oh yes there is a “and then”….the black clouds moved in, the sails began to flog and flap. The winds got terribly fluky. Shifting literally 360 degrees. I had to take the boat off auto pilot and man the helm so we didn’t accidentally gybe.
Then the rain came and then more fluky wind shifts. I broke down after the 2nd hour of stress and called out to Graham. It didn’t take him long to jump up to the cockpit and basically just reassure me I was doing a good job. The winds were light enough that even though we had full canvas up we felt we could manage the unpredictability as long as someone was manning the helm. A little pep talk and he went back to bed.
So now my romantic evening watch is over but I thought I’d stay in the cockpit for a bit as Tim gets use to the odd wind.
Maybe it was the perfect last night. Kept me on my toes and reminded me not to become complacent. We have 54 miles to go! I’m looking forward to the sun coming up and yelling “landho”!
Grahams already talking about getting the beer in the fridge. Lol. You know where his priorities are.
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