Day 2

Well what a start. The forecast light rain and 20 knot winds turned into a few downpours and winds gusting over 30 knots.  What was meant to be a moderate sea turned into a rough one. What was meant to be a stiff but moderate introduction turned into more of a challenge.  The good news is that our inexperienced crew passed through our first storm with flying colours. The team we have is a good one.  Young Evan had an introduction into reefing he will never forget - waves sweeping over the deck as we reduced main sail to make the boat easier to handle.  The spray flying into the cockpit coats everything in salt and we had two waves that broke into the cockpit turning it into a paddling pool for a brief time – very refreshing and cleaned off the mud sticking to us after stowing the anchor.  At night there was no moon or stars so flying by instruments alone.  A leaking diesel can contributed to the discomfort  and some  minor bouts of seasickness were inevitable.  Ben was hit by a flying fish to add insult. Not, as I say, an easy introduction.

I  cannot speak for everyone but I guess we all had thoughts of why am I doing this? Leaving friends and loved ones at home.  Leaving our comfort zone for what?  Why do we volunteer for trying to live and cook inside a washing machine?  Do we dislike you that much?  No at sea the heart grows fonder and is enriched by our experiences.  We miss you more. Before dawn the clouds cleared a little and the storm abated. Corbin summed it up for me when, instead of complaining, he had a huge smile on his face and pointed out that you could see stars reflected in the white foam streaming around the boat.   These “stars” are in fact bioluminescence, flashes produced by zooplankton and the bigger ones by squid.   Here we are living life to the full, our crew learned a lot last night and nothing but smiles all round.

From a now sunny blue sea, Stephen