All sailors know of the ITCZ (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone) or simply better known as “The Doldrums”.
I have made a new discovery…, the UDC (The Uber-Death Cloud), or perhaps I’ll call it Viento Pegasoso (The sticky wind (in Spanish)), and no I can’t spell in Spanish, or English for that matter.
The UDC floats around the Pacific eating small boats and driving captains and crews mad! Thank God I survived. It is an anomaly, a vortex in space and time, a black hole, it’s the UDC! STAY AWAY!!!
I’ve never sailed through weather the way I have for the past week my surroundings were so heavy and grey you wouldn’t believe that wind could be associated with such conditions. The ceiling was so low it seemed that Namaste was constantly cutting the belly of the clouds open with her mast, resulting in massive downpour. Wouldn’t wind blow this all away?
I was sailing through the UDC today when I saw something strange, a way out! There was an exit to my dark cave to the south. A doorway about 7 miles wide and 5 miles high. It literally looked like the exit from a cave gleaming blue sky on the other side. “It’s directly into the wind though”! I decided if I burned every drop of diesel I had to get out of this God forsaken place it would be worth it. I kicked the old girl over and went bashing to weather. The opening seemed to be getting smaller. I felt like Indiana Jones rushing to get out of the cave before the rock door slid down trapping me forever.
Four hours later I was laughing in the sunshine, I cut the motor. I turned around, my doorway had closed.
I see cotton ball clouds above and to the south, the west and north looks like uber-crapola.
It appears that the UDC extends to the west in front of me. I’m not big on making southing just to make south. I am on a direct course (slightly south) for
Anyway, that was my day.
I’m hoping to see a few stars tonight.
Alex
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