Hello Friends-
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving- I know my freeze-dried Turkey Tetrazzini was awesome.
I'm trying to settle in to the Trade Wind lifestyle here, but the constant squalls muck up my best laid plans. I try to get the right sail plan up for the conditions and so that I can get a bit of sleep at night, but the squalls come through packing high winds and rain and when they do- I'm up on deck putting a reef in or changing to a smaller jib- usually at night- us...ually getting soaked. Last night I was really tired, so at midnight I reduced sail, checked the radar for ships or squalls and got about three hours of uninterrupted sleep, which was huge.
A few observations-
- I have seen three tankers in the past three days- they are the only ships I have seen.
- lots of flying fish on the deck and the water is a beautiful deep blue- air temps must be in the 80's- sea temp is 83- but no dolphins since the first day- boo.
- lots of sea weed in the water which is a pain, because it catches up on the rudders and on the hydro-generators and then needs to be cleaned off. The boat was moving slowly this afternoon and I couldn't figure why at first but finally headed the boat up into the wind and went backwards for a bit and a whole bunch of seaweed came off the keel and rudders, so that was what was slowing me down.
- I'm feeling good physically, with no injuries or health problems at the moment- knock on wood.
- Mentally, I'm trying to stay stable and positive and have been for the most part successful. Getting enough sleep is key. Eating well and going fast help a lot!
- The boat, equipment, sails and gear are all in good shape coming up on two weeks at sea tomorrow- which is a good sign.
- I finished the book, "The Martian" and thought it was fantastic. Now have started "Cutting for Stone" which is totally different and I am just getting in to.
- Weather outlook is for more of these same Easterly winds, 15-25 knots, as I charge Southeast towards the Equator over the next five days.
- I am on schedule to arrive at my Leg One waypoint on Monday, which will be Day 15- as planned. The key then will now be getting through the Doldrums (aka the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone, or ITCZ), across the Equator and into the South Atlantic trade winds.
So that’s the situation out here on the good ship GryphonSolo2 on a Saturday night a long way from home- Hope you all enjoy the rest of this holiday week-end.
Cheers
Joe
