43:44.054N 19:19.173W

SV Eleonora
Michael A. Andronov
Sat 7 Jul 2018 22:09
 UTC & local time -- 2040.
 
Somewhere behind the clouds -- there is the Sun.  It is still there, since there is still light coming through the clouds...
The whole day -- we were covered around with kind of smog / fog... Grey sky, covered with grey layer of clouds,  grey water, and the boat with white sails... 
 
The water is flat,  nearly flat... And we are gliding... being not sure where, being not sure why... ;-)
As predicted -- there were not too much wind during the day... On top of it, the wind changed from SW to NW, then N,  and  keeps changing direction clockwise, veering... It would have been fun to watch and to analyse if there were not 2 factors  involved --
1.  Even though we were pointing close hull, there has been no enough wind to move the boat...  So, no choice -- i've started the motor, motor sailing...
2. And as soon as we starting motor sailing -- the wind started to veer, blocking us from the direct route to UK... 
 
So, everything as predicted -- N, NE winds,  starting to pick up  by  the evening...  Though it has been predicted -- it does not make life any easier... We are motor sailing the course of 085T   when we need to go 057T...  And those 30 degrees difference -- exactly where the light wind is coming  from... ;-) 
 
The major intrique for now  -- how much further the wind is going to veer...  As always in real life -- you ask 3 different weather channels  -- and you get 5 different opinions... Pick up the one you like most...
 
As you can feel by the tone of the message -- the spirit and the mood on boat is following the weather...  The prespective of beating against the wind all the rest of the trip, having Biscay on starboard, and the Atlantic on the port...
Cool... But beating... again ?!  ;-)   At the same time -- no much choice...
 
But life is going on, and the only way to deal with days like today  -- at least, the only one effective way I'm aware off -- to keep going as 'planned'.  For toady -- it means  checking equipment,  making small repairs... 
 
The boat cooperates fully with that and is throwing challenges at me,  targeting my head... trying to take away ability to think logically... ;-)   The challenges of  today -- electornics and the contacts... It is really amazing what the salty enviroment is doing to  the connectors... All charging cables for IPhone and iPad -- gone...  Managed to reasamble one... picking and soldering connectors from different cables... It is working for now... But we will see...
 
Sat phone -- was the longest to bring back to life... But finally, started to work again, and I hope this message will be on the blog shortly...  Speaking of the Satphone... It brings back the issue of telecommunications, getting connection with the 'main land',  with people...  
 
Connection with the land, with people  -- has been the issue from the first days of sailing the 'small vessels' around the globe... What amazed me most... Since 60s of the last century -- I'm deliberately not going further behind -- till today, the communication technology made a tremendous progress... And never the less,  the communication with land -- and between the boaters on small yachts  -- I'm not talking about big vessels, super yachts, etc. -- is sitll a major challenge.
And some recent conversations makes me to believe that the major challenge  and issue -- is not a technology at all, but rather us, human beings...  E-mails,  Networks,  Facebook & social networks of all kinds -- makes it so  easy to shoot the words,  photos, all kind of info from place to place... 
 
An old adajo   --  there is no free lunch -- is taking place here too... And as technology progressing, some humanity,  feelings, relationships are vanising from the communications itself... May be it is just me... I hope, it is just me...
But I get a strange feeling that the culture of letter exchange, as we may referred to the letters of Mandelshtam, Tolstoy,  or  Hugo -- long time gone...  
 
We learned how to talk,  we do not care  if we express ourselves clearly...  and we slowly loosing capability to listen...
 
Grey day, grey weather, grey thoughts!  At least something is going in unison... ;-)
We have just tacked... and now going  336--340 T... Straight into tho open Atlantic... Soon the wind would recognise our trick, and will back, blocking us again from our progress...  ( at least, I hope so... ) ;-) And then we will tack again, to the course to our destination... And we will keep doing that, again, again, and again... 
 
Sailing sounds like fun, isn't it?
 
Talk to you soon ( sat phone permits),
M.