Day 23
The grim conditions yesterday lasted through the
night with more squalls and enough of a sea state to make for a bumpy night.
I have been taking Stugeron to prevent sea
sickness but despite this was not feeling particularly good last night and
whilst Jamie had the vegetable curry he had made the day before for his dinner
I only managed a small bowl of cereal.
We kept the sails well reefed down overnight and
both slept below decks in the dry. Jamie went on deck every half hour or so to
check everything was ok and returned drenched each time.
Today the weather has been better with no rain yet
although there are definitely squalls lingering; it seems unlikely we will get
this blog posted before one eventually hits. There has been the odd glimpse of
blue skies and the sun has peeked out occasionally; a vast improvement on
yesterday! The winds have been around force 5 all day and we have made solid
progress. The sea state has been such that conditions on board haven't been
overly comfortable; although not too bad. The best way to describe it is that
if you have nothing to do then it is not uncomfortable. However there is enough
of a motion that trying to do much in the galley or move around much is pretty
frustrating. I guess we have been spoilt for the last 3 weeks in our
"anchorage conditions" but this is the motion that will get us where
we are heading!
There is no doubt we are in an ocean now; from my
little corner spot in the saloon I look up into the cockpit and every now and
then see an enormous wave bearing down on us. When I go up on deck and look
around the sea swell is picking us up and dropping us off the back of each
passing surge. Occasionally one misplaced wave will slap the side of the hull
and there are frothy white-caps adding a little drama to the scene.
Hamble Warrior seems perfectly at home here. There
is something very comforting about the way she moves with the ocean swell. She
is like a small child with each hand held by a trusted adult; swinging in the
troughs between swells.
We have spent most of today below; reading and
re-watching our old favourite "Parks and Recreations" from our hard
drive. Meep has found his usual comfy spot across the saloon and watches us
from there; occasionally sliding under the table to snuggle next to our feet
where he can't be rolled too far! He had a treat this morning when Jamie found four
very small flying fish on deck. They were so tiny he threw them all straight
into Meep's bowl and within moments he had eaten them wings and all! He is keen
to remind us there is still Mahi Mahi in the fridge for supper; as if we were
going to forget!
We are posting the blog an hour early so I have
calculated our 5pm to 5pm daily run today to be a very respectable 134nm which
compensates for a bit of an uncomfortable evening last night.
