Day 15 – The Beat Goes On

I am coming at you a bit raw tonight. And its not because of the election. The sea is wearing me down. After being out here for over two weeks, as the waves and wind just constantly toss us about, its hard. And I get it is a PRIVILEGE to be out here doing this, and I am very grateful for it, but days like this are still very challenging and difficult. Especially when you are tired.

I also know these are not even really tough conditions. Sure the wind is blowing 20+ knots with 10 foot waves, but these are not storm condition. Not even close. It is not 40 knot winds with 25 foot waves that I know people have endured for days on end. I wonder how people and boats even make it through storms like that?

Plus we have Otto, tirelessly steering the boat for us, mile after mile, hour after hour. Flawlessly. It is quite impressive really. I think if we had to hand steer the boat. That would be exhausting as you are fully exposed to the elements, and constantly having to maneuver the boat through the waves and ever changing wind conditions. Otto, MVP!!

So forgive me as I vent about what this is really like out here now. The boat is constantly jerking, rolling and bouncing. When moving about the boat you have to make calculated moves holding on for each step, solidly engaging your core so you are always braced. When a wind gust hits, the boat shudders, then heels steeply to the port side and then you really have to hold on. And you never know when a gust will hit. The worst part though is the slamming. As the boat drops off the back of a wave, the hull smacks the bottom with a loud CRACK that echo’s through the hull and rattles your bones. The entire boat vibrates and shakes. You truly wonder how the boat can take the constant slamming. I truly wonder how WE can take it. The noise if deafening. Oh yeah, and we have to try to sleep in this. And cook, and eat. And sit on the toilet and not try to slide or bounce off. It is a brutal core workout.

Everyone is getting a bit on edge as well. Morale is still good, but you can see others getting frayed at the edges. Except Dean. He is always the same. Never complains, always cheerful, just pushes on. It is quite impressive really. Luke is pretty good as well, he has been having the time of his life out here. But he had to spend a couple of hours today sewing up a tear in the bunk that he sleeps in. There is a piece of cloth that holds him in had ripped from his body slamming against it. It was hard to stich for hours with a needle while the boat undulated. Next he had to cook dinner. Yep it was wearing him down.

Mateo is having the toughest time though. He was not feeling well all day and the constant noise really bothers him, which I get. I think he is just a bit sea sick. Given the movement of the boat it is totally understandable.

Mateo found the strength to play the ukulele!

But we have HOPE! We are making progress towards home, and the wind is supposed to be much lighter over the next couple of days. Thank. You. God. We have all been praying for this break!

We only managed to sail 118 miles today, a 5 knot average. We just can’t go fast pounding into these waves, and we have a 1.5 knot current working against us, so that makes it harder.

Of course I knew this would be a difficult passage. As I was sailing down wind to the Marquesas back in April, I would look back at the seas and think “I have to sail back AGAINST this!” But honestly, we have been blessed with much better conditions than I had expected on this voyage. The pounding of the last couple of days was something I thought we would experience for most of the passage. But we haven’t, and I a grateful for that.

This is a small price to pay for the adventure we got to experience. It has been amazing, and i would not trade that for anything. I would put up with two weeks of boat slamming if I needed to.

Meanwhile, back to all the exciting politics!

EPILOG: The wind did die down about midnight to a manageable 12 knots, and the seas as well. Thank goodness! I even got a solid 6 hours of sleep! This morning the seas have calmed even more, the wind is down to about 8 knots and the sun it out! We have turned the engine on to make progress towards home