Be Careful What You Wish For - 3rd May

Vega
Hugh and Annie
Thu 4 May 2017 19:25
09:29.21S 121:23.97W
So the saying goes and in our case it may be true. After the record breaking runs of the first week the wind is now much lighter and we are struggling to make 100nm in a day. We have blue skies, hot sunshine, calm blue sea but only 7kts of wind. Still enough to make 4.5kts with the cruising chute but at this rate we still have 10+ days to cover the remaining 1200nm. The conditions seem to be prevalent along the whole route and those in larger yachts or catamarans are getting a tad frustrated.
Last night we changed our watch system as there seemed little point in one of us staying awake up in the cockpit while we bimble along at 3kts in the moonlight. In fact our disrupted sleep pattern caught up with me yesterday and I had a wave of tiredness that felt debilitating. We decided to keep to three hourly watches but with both sleeping in a berth below, the one of us on watch coming up every thirty minutes to check on things. We shared Annie's phone as an alarm but sadly I couldn't remember the code to unlock it and so may have emerged less frequently than planned. Nevertheless on one emergence I did lower the mainsail that was flapping from side to side and we continued reasonably well under just the poled out genoa. Annie was concerned about sleep quality if she woke every thirty minutes but in fact we both slept well, notwithstanding the interruptions.
Annie's lucky lure lost its allure and we didn't catch anything yesterday. But now the loss is more profound. As I was writing this there was a very loud crack from somewhere behind the boat and I looked up with a start to see a big white patch on the water where something had hit it. Sometimes you see big rays jumping and I thought it could have been that or maybe a dolphin jumping or perhaps a whale slapping its tail. However I soon realised that the white patch coincided with Annie's lure that was towing behind. I grabbed the reel and the lure felt to be attached but then there was a big tug and the line went slack. I reeled the line in and the lure was gone, the thick nylon line cut clean through where the lure should have been. Briefly lamenting the loss of $13 worth of fishing equipment and hoping some marine creature isn't injured, Annie has now attached a replacement.
One of the things we find on these long passages is that our tolerance of untidiness diminishes. Not only are things lying around likely to roll around with the movement of the boat they are also likely to get in the way when not needed. We have nothing in the cockpit other than the essential lines, harnesses and seat cushions necessary to sail the boat. We no longer keep fenders on deck around the guardrail and they are all down in the rear locker. The Scrabble set, fishing gear and so on all get put away when not in use. There is one empty gas cylinder tied to the binnacle but only because it isn't in the way and I have yet to find a space for it in a locker that doesn't compromise the ordered stowage in place down there also. It is the same in the cabin. There is more than just a practical side to this. Being cooped up in a confined space exaggerates the psychological impact of mess - we just cannot live in a tip. Furthermore Annie and I have a natural tendency towards disorganisation that has to be countered by order. We wouldn't be able to find anything otherwise. I can see now why the Navy has a mania for tidiness and why on even the most unpromising looking merchant ship the crews quarters, working areas and engine room will always be immaculately clean and tidy.

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