37:21.257N 39:11.012W
SV Eleonora
Michael A. Andronov
Thu 14 Jun 2018 07:35
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UTC 0605
1789.6 nm done... Computer projection -- 397.2 to go
before possible landfall ( Fores )....
It has been a quite -- boring ( in a very possitive sense
) -- day, June 13th...
About 1000 -- I noticed the white sails about 5 miles from
me... I get used to see cargo ships crossing our course...
But sails ! The boat was crossing my route 5 miles
ahead.... I'm going a bit more North -- I was told the wind was there...
and they were going a bit more East -- on direct route to
Horta... Everyone has its own targets and priorities, it's ok.
At the time we met -- the swell was pretty big, and
with a distance of 5 nm it was nearly impossible to see the hull of the
boat... But based on the size of the sail, how tall the mast -- it
was a big boat. ' Yes, right, Michael... Really, really big
boat... And the size of the boat was growing as your attempt to catch up
with them was fadding... '. That is true -- 5 nm was the
clossest we saw each other.
Attempt to talk to the boat failed. Well... There is
probably more then one person on board, and who needs to talk to the
stranger, when you have people on board ? ;-) In
short -- big sailing vessel, you know!
The wind was slowly deminishing... our progress
consequently. Furl yankee, ne-install
gennaker, By the time that is done -- no gain in speed. But no
loss either, though the wind went down even more... And this 'nice
feeling' like you have just returned from the few hours in gym...
The fact that I'm still on board and in one peace -- is a definite
bonus... Have you ever heard _expression_ -- ' A Monkey with a granade
'? When you need a stronger term to use, you try '
Michael with a spinnaker pole '...
Dark blue ocean, light blue sky, with some
counture of clouds far on horizon, warm but not hot... Tall
siluet of white sails, now disappearing about 2 o'clock
on starboard... We are on the rumb line to Flores...
Cool... But according to the forecast -- there is a 'dead
end' ahead, meaning no wind. And I have to gain North
Latitude, 38N to be precise... and I can not go there because
the current direction of the wind...
Evening discussion with Chriss confirmed -- 'dead end'
ahead indeed... And really dead -- it is going to be on
Friday... You want wind ? Go to the North... At
this point, I could not do anything anyway, since the wind went down
even more, and changing directions withing 30 degrees all the time...
Chriss reaussured that the wind will come back, but not too
much... and ' --North, Michael, North.'...
Well, sailing or no sailing -- it is a dinner
time... According to the Transport Canada -- I'm responsible to maintain
Canadian customs on board ... So, dinner it is... Plus a
movie... Wind come back... boat is moving... Do I really
want to change the course now? It is pitch dark
outside, the boat is going, kind off... in a kind of right
direction... I've been more then 2 weeks in the Ocean...
extra couple of days... According to Transport Canada....
To make the story short -- I went to sleep...
Our communication with the boat reached the
level of communication between the happy parents and the new born
child... The later is expressing himself by kicking,
screaming, making stange faces -- in our case, from the different
shape of the sails to gennaker furled aroud itself and the forestay, .-- etc,
etc... The child is always making his statement as
the parets would really like to sleep... And as the child
happy -- he or she smiles... -- again, in our case, a good
sail shape and smooth sailing -- but the parents do not see it as
have already collapsed in kind of sleep...
The screams of the boat instantly transported me from the
nicest time on Antigua -- in my dream, to the reality in
the middle of Atlantic.
Looked on the watch -- midnight... ' Be possitive,
Michael... be possitive... It is June 14th already, 13th gone... '
The boat is screaming, trying to tell
something... by collapsing and feeling the gennaker, attempting
to distroy the boom preventer...
Aga... the wind picked up... Time to
gybe... Now?! It is midnight local... 4 UTC...
Dark... and gybe ? Can we wait a couple of hours?
No, we can not... Unless I would like to go
somewhere in the direction between Antigua and Africa... So, time to
gybe...
Long time ago, I read multiple accounts from
the Ocean racers about gybing Open 40, Open 50... 60... by Volvo race
teams... by single handlers... As racing myself on the Lake St. Lois at
that time, I could never fully understand and appreciate -- what take them
so long? Tonight I got it all!
It has been a good exercise... It looks like I
managed to make the right sequence of steps how to do it... and it paid back
today ... The gybe went smoothly... We are on the run now... the boat is
happy -- doing about 6.8 knots... In the right direction as we are
gaining North latitude... No screams, 'smiling
face'....
I got my reward too... Right where we are going --
the sky started to show where the dawn would start... by changing colour
of the sky into my favourite blue... As approvivg and
smiling...
Everything OK. We are gliding over the Ocean toward
that approving light, towards the future!
M.
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