Day 10 without caffeine or alcohol

RAVEN - Atlantic Circuit 2021-22
Richard Foulkes
Tue 30 Nov 2021 19:12
While (some may be surprised to know!) I have had many periods in the past without alcohol for weeks, I have never been without caffeine! It has come about by accident on this trip as James never has hot drinks and Graham is decaf anyway but not even having that this trip as it can cause dehydration , so I have followed suit. It’s hard to tell what effect it has having on my brain, as lack of sleep is an issue in recent days….. but I was struggling with a genoa furlex issue yesterday and couldn’t work out between clockwise and anti-c, so I blame the lack of caffeine.
We had some very strong squalls last night, got the third reef in the mainsail just in time. During the squalls the helm is in a boiling cauldron of surging seas roaring from behind, wind gusts up to 40k from shifting directions and often driving rain as well, all in pitch darkness and struggling to turn the wheel. We have stayed with main on reef 3 through today as conditions are going to be quite lively for a few more days and we need to wait for a calm day to sort the genoa furling.