All at sea

Sweet Dreams
Roz Preston /Ed Phillips
Thu 6 Oct 2022 15:06
So last night, after a fairly uneventful first day heading out from Nazare into waters 3 times deeper than the Grand Canyon 😳I came on watch at 2300 hours to a star spangled sky and a bright half moon lighting the way ahead. I could still see the friendly twinkling masthead light of our friends on Bojabe astern and ahead, the immense ocean that is now our cruising ground. There is nothing quite like the feeling of being alone in the cockpit on night watch, while the rest of the crew, Dick and Ed, can sleep soundly knowing that for 2 hours I’m looking out for Sweet Dreams and all who sail in her. We are rolling a bit, downwind with a following sea, but nothing as unpleasant as the Bay of Biscay back in July. We all managed to sleep well off watch and 2 hours on, 4 hours off works well for everyone.
Today has been full of incident. After breakfast, Ed and I had just finished shaking out the last of the reefs in our twin headsails when we were visited by a huge school of dolphin. They were all around us, surfing down the waves astern, speeding alongside in formation, 5 or more doing synchronised swimming, to weave from side to side right under the bow. There was lots of joyful breaching, diving and tail flapping.There must have been 30/40 of them, just coming by to say hello and put on a bit of a show before heading off as suddenly as the appeared to go about whatever dolphin business needed their attention elsewhere. I thought of John Kretschmer’s words of advice in ‘Sailing to the Edge of Time’. Being out on an ocean in a sailing yacht is a great privilege. Live every moment. I would add …especially in a boat you built yourself, with friends as invested in her story as I am.
Today’s great triumph was making our own water, 50 litres in 2 hours running the watermaker while we charged the batteries. Very satisfactory.
And Sweet Dreams is sailing beautifully, one headsail flying either side of the bow, taking it all in her stride at 6 to 8 knots. This is what it’s all about. The boat, the sea, the wind. Living and loving every moment of the voyage.

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