Animal brain

Gudrun V
Axel Busch
Thu 15 Mar 2012 16:47
Thursday, 2012-03-15, 11:40 local (16:40 UTC), 6:47.8N 79:53.7W, 1006mBar, 29C, COG 205, SOG 7kn

Second day at sea. We left much later yesterday than we had hoped for, it was 16:30 by the time we had the anchor up. It was one of those days where one trouble hunts the other, and we almost didn't leave at all. But now that we're underway we're very glad that we did. I'm very glad we're out of Panama and on the way. The place, and the incessant work on the boat, was slowly getting on my nerves. Out here at sea, moving, I feel much better than sitting in the same anchorage week after week.

The wind is up, 15 to 25kn, but it often changes around our back so we gybe with the Parasailor every hour. Some swell has also built up and we're rolling slowly left/right. But we're making between 6 and 9kn, sometimes 10kn surfing down a wave, which is very good. Only sometimes the autopilot can't cope and we get pushed 20 or 30 degrees of course and the boat heels heavily. Good thing Liz tied everything down before we left. But 132nm in 19h is not bad at all.

Over night Liz and I alternated with watches and sleep-cycles. Liz, ever the night-owl, stayed up until 1:30 while I slept in the salon, then we switched and I took the rest of the night watch. The temperature dropped to 20C at night, the temperature of the sea arund us, and with the wind it felt cold and we added two more layers of clothing. There was also a lot of condensation in the air, and in a short while everything was wet and slippery. The water in the air gets everywhere, even below decks, which is why electronics usually don't last that long. Scott brought us waterproof covers for our iPads and Kindles, so we hope they last anyway.

Sitting in the cockpit and staring at the sea I feel like I should do something, like take photos, shoot a movie, write blog entries, etc. But the last months were so busy with preparations that all I want to do is lay back, stare at the sea and at the stars at night, read a book, and sleep. Liz says that's our animal brain talking, which is always in conflict our our big brain. The animal brain just wants to do the minimal for survival, whereas our big brain gives us all these crazy ideas of how we have to make use of the time we're given. Today my animal brain wins.