Gray Day

Friday March 1st

This morning at 6am it was gray and miserable with roily seas, and because we had to get the Genoa down (big sail at the front of the boat) it was windy. Every morning we’ve been here there has been absolutely no wind, not even a whisper. This morning was quite the opposite. I hate with a passion taking sails down, the flailing lines thrashing about in the wind, and the boat trying to sail off as the sail grabs the wind consistently terrify me. Then trying to fold the damn thing on deck where you have no space and there are lines stretched everywhere as a trip hazard, why would anyone want to do this? It’s no coincidence that so many sailors are weathered old men, who are all fried up by the sun and scared from head to toe from all the injuries sustained aboard, and mostly alone!

While trying to help Edi and Graeme this morning take the Genoa down I got smacked in the head and almost dislocated a finger due to a thrashing line. Bob was in the dinghy behind the boat bobbing around like a cork, trying to get the engine off. For long crossings Bob always takes the dinghy engine off and stores it on board. Once all the main jobs were completed prior to our departure we suddenly had a problem with the engine. “Oh joy”!

By 11:30 we were underway and although cloudy, it was at least dry with some intermittent sunshine, the wind was sparse, but we were all hopeful for more.

We were under motor doing between 8 and 9 knots, and I was standing on the bow on watch for whales, dolphins or whatever wanted to raise its head from the deep black ocean when I spotted a shoal of dolphins coming from every direction heading towards us. They swam with Daisy for about 15 – 20 minutes, I got the video camera and filmed them swimming next to the bow of the boat, they were having so much fun in the bow wave. Edi sat on the side and dangled his legs over the side, he could easily have reached down and touched them. Eventually Bob called us back to the cockpit, the wind had finally picked up and he wanted to raise the sails.

As much as I hate sailing, there’s little I love more than having the dolphins swim with us, seeing them so close, so happy and so beautiful it’s a very special experience.

At the 9am roll call, all the Oysters already underway ahead of us were reporting sights of whales, sharks and sailfish, so I’m hopeful of seeing much more ocean wildlife.

One Comment

3 Trackbacks

  • By uihc97yhw8hyh on April 3, 2013 at 12:58 pm

    Great Content…

    we like to honor many other web sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages worth checking out…

  • By red bottom shoes on April 6, 2013 at 5:32 am

    red bottom shoes…

    Thanks for any other wonderful post. Where else may anyone get that kind of info in such an ideal approach of writing? I have a presentation subsequent week, and I’m on the search for such information….

  • By プラダ バッグ on May 11, 2013 at 1:19 am

    プラダ バッグ…

    You could definitely see your skills in the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to say how they believe. Always follow your heart….

Post a Comment