Yesterday I was a bit bummed. There has been no sun for 4 days now, just a thick humid substance all around. The haze often makes it difficult to see where the sea and the sky meet, it’s kind of surreal. At night I am truly floating through space with no stars or moon, just blackness. This is the ITCZ!
I don’t know if it’s sailing the doldrums, solitary, or spending the past day with a serial Killer (in my book), but I myself was feeling a bit in the doldrums. I need to occupy my mind with a better choice of reading material, something positive!
Something horrible happened yesterday. I broke my reading light. When I got the windlass from ABI they sent me one of their new “chip technology light bulbs”. It is really an amazing light. It only draws .2 of an amp and delivers an enormous amount of light. I connected it to a long wire with a cigarette lighter plug at the end and have used it extensively ever since. I’m really bummed about loosing it. I snapped the circuit board during a sail change, ARRRGGGGG! I’m also bummed that all my fresh veggies and fruits are spoiling so quickly, and I’m not catching any fish.
I was just visited by a very playful pod of dolphins. They bashed & breeched the sea for more then half an hour and really lifted my spirits.
5 hrs later.
I’m really clawing my way south. My hands are starting to blister from all the sail change. The wind poops, the drifter goes up. The wind exceeds 10 knots the drifter goes down. My drifter is old and I don’t want to put a lot of load on it. If I loose it I will really have slow days in front of me. For the past few nights I’ve been sailing through the night. Every 10 or so minutes something happens. Either the perimeter alarm shows something (rain on the radar), the sails call for a trim, I get bashed by a large wave, whatever it is I can’t sleep for more then a few minutes.
I’m so lucky I put a safety on my wiska pole. I squall just blew in blowing 25 and I looked to the bow, no pole. It was dragging in the water beside Namaste.
I’m going to take a fresh water shower in the squall now.
Fast forward 8hrs.
The squalls haven’t stopped, blowing up to 35 knots. I’m tired and cold. My blisters have popped and my hands are a mess. I’ve been looking for my sailing gloves since I left and just found them in the pocket of my fowlies witch are soaking wet!.
I’m approaching 3 degrees north. I’m looking forward to crossing the equator and making south until I find the trades, hopefully sooner then later.
Cheers,
Peace, Love, and trade wind!
Alex
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