Transatlantic: Day 11 [Day 32]

July 18, 2018. We are still in the middle. Far from land in any direction and yet nowhere at the same time.

We have been moving quickly for over a week and this now feels like our new normal.

The clouds around us are rising again and that means that our winds will not falter. We are moving with the weather so that we can continue to exist in these wonderful conditions of speed and sailing. Bubbles in our wake disappear into the distance before they can pop, we are moving and moving quickly.

The thought always looms in the back of our minds that should we fall over, we would be the bubble left far behind and out of sight in no time. For this reason, we are always clipped in to the boat.

Life on starboard tack now feels normal. For the past 11 days, we have been on this same tack, with the same sails set and at the same angle to the wind. Life out here is just a repeat of yesterday and a preview of tomorrow.

Transatlantic: Day 10 [Day 31]

The hurricane has passed, and the clouds are telling that light airs are coming. We did not have access to the pretty and colorful charts that our friends had, but we did have a few things on board.

First, they and friends on shore were telling us to go North to avoid the calm conditions that were coming in.

Second, the clouds were warning of the changing winds and we needed to turn North to stay in the wind as the high pressure system began coming in.

While we are no longer going straight towards our destination, we are keeping with the winds and maintaining our speed. Day after day, we are doing 100 nautical miles per day for the first time in our lives and we have been able to hold this pace for the entire way so far!

Transatlantic: Day 9 [Day 30]

The winds have gotten a little odd on us. We are far from any point of land and able to sail in any direction to provide us the most comfort.

Far to our north-west is a hurricane, and it also has wind. A friend of ours that was about 400 nautical miles ahead of us the whole way had the ability to download and view weather routing information to his yacht. He would plug in our position and then tell us what waypoint to aim for to get the best speed.

The interesting thing about the software is it doesn’t care what is causing the wind, it simply sees wind and suggests a way to sail it. Here, it is suggesting we head north and into the hurricane. Our plan is to not sail into a hurricane and instead stay south as that monster blows past us.

We know that after the hurricane passes, we will have a high pressure to deal with and light airs, but we would rather float around in no wind than brave a hurricane.

Transatlantic: Day 8 [Day 29]

The date is July 15, 2018, and we are still moving along.

Intelligence is no longer needed, as everything today is the same as it was yesterday, and will be the same tomorrow.

Maddie and I run on 8 hour watch schedules, which gives us a full 8 hours of sleep (a glorious thing to have on the boat) but that also means that your boring watch will feel eternal. Nothing happens, nothing changes, nothingness in all directions.

Then you gaze upwards in despair and witness the splendor of the night sky. Out here, light pollution doesn’t exist and the constellations actually look like the drawings. Nebulous galactic clouds are clearly visible and the same sky that our ancestors mapped is presented before us once again.

Did they once dream of doing what we are doing right now while gazing up at these very stars?

Transatlantic: Day 7 [Day 28]

Another day, another wave, another watch schedule. Land was now last seen a week ago and we are moving along quickly, except for today. This was our slow day out of the crossing, and it is still so much faster than our trip to Bermuda!

Waiting for the right winds is so important. Yes, you can sail in any winds, and in any wind direction, but why?

If you have a head wind this week, wait until you have a tail wind next week. If you try and beat against the winds for a week, you will find that you will still be out there when the winds finally change and you start making actual miles under your keel. Alternatively, you could have stayed in a nice harbor where you have shore side attractions like friends, theaters, and places to walk! A week spent in a park is much better than a week spent beating into the seas. When the winds change, you will cover so many more miles per day and arrive at your destination quickly and with less exhaustion on you and on your boat.

We are going so fast because the winds are coming out of the South and we are cruising along on a beam reach!