Salsa is so small 26.12.2 S 178.33.3 E
Salsa af Stavsnas
Ellinor Ristoff Staffan Ehde
Thu 14 Nov 2013 02:11
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There is a saying that every vessel becomes small
on the ocean. That is true, very true.It is also said that when you are a
gentleman you never sail against the wind. Well by necessity you have to give up
your great title and face the ocean, face to face. When you run with the
tradewinds it's coming behind you, lifting the aft of your boat and you can
ignore it. Just look ahead. Ignore it. But as of now, when we are sailing
against the wind you have to sit backwards to avoid the face of this liquid
mountains. Going against them means also you get to see many more then when you
run with them.What you realize is how small Salsa is when she climbes these
hills. They come at you, in the pale light of the morning dawn. no sun,
just a huge black cloud covering in grey. The come at you with their magnificent
surface that looks like a creature, older than earth. Wrinkles created by the
accelerating wind, small waves on big waves, the top giving away from the wind,
a spray of foam. And then, as Salsa is climbing one wave after the other, with
dignity, with power, with brute force, but still floating above the ocean floor,
then it all comes out of sync, the bow hits the middle of a wave that will give
up all its water on deck. A huge river is formed, water washes along the teak,
hits the edges of various equipment, splashes and closes the view when the
windows in front of me are submerged and the roar of water bursts outside the
cockpit. Who designed this boat? Well I know, but still, what a beauty, no water
in the cockpit, just a shivering in the rig and then she picks up speed again,
gets in sync, the water still falling off the genua like a small beautyful
waterfall.
I warned everybody on board yesterday, Bobs
forecast showed a tought day, but only a day.
What did the kids do? They made socks out of silk,
because silk is extremely slippery on a wooden floor. So as I look at the beauty
of this forceful ocean they are skiing or skating in the saloon. They use the
waves to move them around. They are crazy! Talk about seeing
opportunities.
The nice thing about this weather is that Andreas
does not feel an urge to compete with his sound library. There is enought of it
already...
Forgot to tell you yesterday we had
Tuna/Pesto/Pasta.
Today we got
burrito/tuna/lentels/mayo/vegetables.
On the radio we heard today that a dutch sailing
boat lost their rig 400nM from NZ, but the coast guard made it all the way out
to assist them!
Feels good to know.
Last night was hard on both Ellinor and me, our
watches full of adjustments. The wind has been gusty (as it usually is when
picking up speed) and we have had to watch the squalls that flew around us. None
hit us, wich is a miracle. Even this morning there was one big as a small city,
huge, tall, black, full of energy, with curtains of rain, it just had to hit us.
But by some strange reason we managed to get out of the way just as it came in
on our track.
We all feel good on board. Tomorrow is the fifth
day at sea and we have a tradition of celebrating the fifth day. Normally we
would have taken saltwater baths in the aft deck and the shower off with fresh
water, have a great dinner etc. But now it is to cold for an outside bath and
the ocean is a little to wild to leave cockpit without harness etc. Actually the
temparature is great, feel like coming home to a nice summer day, chilly winds.
Im sitting here in a big sweater even though the sun has come out.
We will see what we do tomorrow. Im sure the kids
will have some idea (boat disco for example)
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