Georges Bank
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Noon Position: 41 54.5 N 068 18.6 W Course: 060, Speed: 4 knots Wind: Southeast 7 knots Daily Run: 89 miles Average speed: 3.7 knots Some wind arrived at about 5 p.m. but oh so light, and
from the direction in which we wished to go. I suspect most sailors are
pessimists at heart, a useful defense mechanism, expect headwinds and you are
rarely disappointed and ever so pleased when they turn favorable, but then perhaps
one has to be something of an optimist to even contemplate sticking a sailing
boat’s bows in the general direction of the ocean. We did our best
to make the most of the breeze but after drifting back over the shoals for the third
time a general crew meeting led the skipper to decide to burn some fossil fuel to
clear the shoals and coastal shipping lanes once and for all. At 10.30
p.m., reluctantly, I started the Yanmar and we motored for the rest of the
night. This morning as the sun rose, still motoring, the sea was mirror
smooth, the fog had cleared and a patch of high cirrus adorned the otherwise clean
crisp sky. Terns wheeled and glided, surfing the short low swell, leaving
long tiny furrows as they dipped their banking wing tips in the clear blue sea.
Dolphins porpoised slowly past, challenging Paul to catch their disappearing
dorsal fins on film, celebrating life with us on such a morning as we tucked into
our scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast. Now the wind is teasing us again, at 11.30 ripples on
the water tempted me to sail, so here we are, just north of Georges Bank well
on our way to Tomorrow a fair wind is forecast. The seas and skies are things all living creature on
this small blue planet hold in common. Economists call them externalities,
the free gifts of nature. Only two advanced nations have not ratified the
Kyoto Treaty: the |