Better pummeled now than pasted later

3º 44.417s 128º 15.430w

Thu May 02 2019

Coach Jamie just gave us a new rudder steer. “Push further South NOW! You’ll thank me in a couple days”.

Things are startng to heat up a bit out here. There’s a disturbance way down South, somewhere around 40 degrees South, that’s churned up some pretty good swells, and that energy is moving in our direction. As well, the wind has FINALLY filled in from the East at about 19 knots, pretty steady, and it’s due to clock around to the East Southeast in another day.

Our current position is S 3deg 41.8’, W 128deg 14.0’ and we’ve got to push to about S9deg and W140deg to make Nuka Hiva in the Marquesas. Last time I checked, there’s 60 nautical miles per degree latitude anywhere on the globe, and down here near the equator pretty much the same for longitude. So we’ve got another 318 nm and change to push South, and a bit over 700 nm to push West. B&G’s chart plotter claims 798 nm to the finish line including the litle maneuvering legs into the harbor channel, but you gonna trust those guys?

JollyDogs isn’t fond of pushing into choppy short period wind waves. Big long period swells are another matter altogether, so we’re not so concerned about 2 - 3 meter swells at 14 seconds. It’s this short period lumpy stuff that will continue to build as the wind swings around to the ESE that’ll make life more interesting.

Jamie is married to Behan. I reckon he got as lucky finding her as I did finding Isabel. We both “married up” as they say back home.

Our women don’t puff up their chests and act macho. They understand the concept of “comfort”, and are quick to slow the boat down to facilitate a better night’s sleep. I like to go fast, but even I like sleep, and it does pain me to feel the shock loading the hull is experiencing when the seas smack the inside of an ama, the underside of the bridge deck, or break over the bow. It’s also a great way to get a seawater bath if one happens to be out gazing at the stars.

After having to motor through multiple squalls interspersed with light, flakey winds for over 14 hours yesterday, the wind finally filled in and we started scooting along. About the time Thad crashed after his watch yesterday evening, Isabel began pushing to throw in a reef and slow things down. Wasn’t just women’s intuition, she’s just plain smarter than me, and a much more experienced sailor. I didn’t argue, but didn’t quite agree with her procedure so we drug poor Thad out of his rack and I asked him to coach us through the drill he and I had done the previous day. Worked out great and in a jiffy the reef was in. Sure glad we did it before dark; pretty much everything is easier before dark, except maybe stargazing.

It’s 0200 ship’s time now, and we’ve got maybe 24 hours before the wind clocks around. We’re blasting along between 6 and 9 knots with a reefed main and full jib deployed. We’ve got seas on the beam rolling us a bit, but the pressure on the main sail is high enough that the rolling isn’t causing the boom to swing around and create big snatch loads. We’re getting pummeled a bit by the wind wave impacts, but as Isabel’s dad Paul is often heard saying, “it could be worse”. English folks are always looking on the bright side of life. In this case, it WILL get worse, so it’s worth a bit of punishment now to avoid an absolute ass whuppin’ tomorrow.

We’ve sailing on autopilot heading mode set at 200 degrees magnetic, with a waypoint planted at S6 W130. With any luck we’ll get that far South or even farther before the wind swings around, then we can alter course much more to West, and lay it for Nuka Hiva. With any luck those seas will be aft of the port beam, and the wind will be deep. With a lot of luck we’ll be able to deploy our twin headsail simbo rig and stow the main, then just sit back and enjoy the ride without thinking about that high aft center of effort the main provides. Maybe the bows will ride a little higher.

We’ve been at this for over two weeks, and for the most part it’s been fun and relaxing. With over 800 nm to go, things may feel a bit tense for the next few days until it once again settles down. I’m betting we’ll be both delighted AND relieved when we drop the hook in that nice, calm anchorage with the spectacular scenery at Nuka Hiva.

It’s all part of the game.