Windhorse Sailing

I pulled the 5am to 8am shift. With my headlamp on I read my book about pirate William Dampier while the wind vane steered. The sun came up with not a cloud in the sky auguring a good day. I was anticipating Stevo waking up for his shift. I don’t know if he is a morning person or not, but I was hoping he would make a deal. I was willing to take his shift at the helm for the benefits of his culinary expertise.

He took the deal and 20 minutes later I was eating hot apple muffins slathered in butter followed by two loaves of bread. While hard at work in his research laboratory the buzz of the fishing line sang out. “Fish on.” And for the third day in a row we reeled in a dorado (mahi-mahi) about 8lbs. Yet again a perfect size for the 3 of us to consume in a day.

At just past noon the wind died down to less than 5 knots. As the boat bobs in the swell the sail collapses and fills and collapses and fills again until the snapping of the sails makes you think you’re going to snap. It was clear the lull would last a while so we took down the sail and sat.

The ocean was relatively calm, almost flat, the water a vibrant blue with the sunlight reflecting its immeasurable depth. At 85 degrees it was cool in the shade, but hot in the sun. Only 2000 miles from shore it seemed like a good opportunity for a swim. We took turns at the helm while the other two swam and threw out some floating line for safety.

Swimming literally in the middle of the ocean was quite a sensation. The visibility was something like 25 meters and I kept looking around to see anything moving and there was nothing, only Shangri-La’s perfect hull. After our swim we had some lunch of grilled dorado with onion and tomato on fresh bread.

Finished with lunch and still not much wind. It was time for the super light spinnaker. The first time we hoisted it, a 20 foot seam gave way with out any provocation. I had sewn that seam (picture that), but I hadn’t yet checked the rest of the seams that could possibly go next.

Obviously if I buy a boat in South Africa I’m willing to take a chance, so we put it up. Snap. It filled with air and stayed filled with no tear. We averaged 6.5 knots in an 8 knot apparent wind. It was beautiful. We rode that horse for the next 6 hours into the sunset.

After dark we doused the the spinnaker in favor of the more manageable and less fragile genoa headwall. We are now doing only 4 knots and sometimes only 3 with the occasional collapse and fill. Stevo’s got the 9pm to midnight shift and I am not hungry so Stevo will have to serve his time with a headlamp and a book as the wind vane steers.

Good night and Happy Easter.

To my nieces and nephew, the Feaster bunny found me and left a big chocolate egg.