Wed Jul 14 2021
Everyone has their threshold of fun, excitement, and pain. Some people just need more thrills than others. Back when I was skydiving hard out of airplanes, some of my jump pals were climbing up big radio towers and base jumping. Some liked to pull low because they liked the sensation of ground rush. I got enough jollies just falling 10,000 feet through vertical space, doing a sort of aerial ballet with my mates, what was then called free fall relative work. No telling what they call it now.
We’ve lived aboard JollyDogs since 2014 and loved it. Most folks think we’re nuts. One step above living under a bridge abutment in a piano box. When we’re underway we’re at risk of collision with whales, other pleasure yachts or ships, mis-charted rocky outcroppings, uncharted reefs, or coral heads. When we’re at anchor we can become victims of a weird weather system that fooled the forcasters. We got whacked by a nasty storm while anchored in Tahanea, an uninhabited atoll in the Tuamotus of French Polynesia. Several other boats were in the same atoll and had tucked into where they thought they would be protected from the forecast Northerlies. Turned out it blew up to 47 knots from the West. None of our boats went ashore, but it was a hell of a night. At Fakarava just about 80 miles North several boats were lost or seriously damaged.
When we’re on passage deep at sea and the weather becomes “lively”, there are times that it isn’t for the faint of heart. You have to really believe in the strength of your boat and your own ability to sail the boat properly in difficult conditions. Realizing you’re 1000 miles or more from any real help is rather sobering, and some people simply can’t put themselves in that environment. This isn’t for everyone. I suck at board games and cards.
Isabel and I have spent a lot of time become more seasoned sailors than we used to be, but we feel like mere novices when around our friends on Searose, Taipan, or St. Leger. Those guys have done some eye watering things, had amazing adventures, been places we’ve only dreamed of going. It’s all relative. We might seem interesting to someone who’s new at this. The old timers probably chuckle at us.
Recent events have, shall we say, bent the needle on the excitement meter. Hitting something and badly damaging our starboard bow was an experience we hoped to never have and only expected to be at risk for while transiting the inside passage of Canada. Apparently there are barely submerged logs the locals refer to as “deadheads” and our pals on sister vessel SV Sky Pond have had that experience.
Hoving-to was something we’d practiced a couple of times, but to drift on the sea for days on end with the single objective of saving JollyDogs and our own skins was a new experience for us. We’re very fortunate that the crew of RV Lady Amber diverted to our location and worked tirelessly for two days to help us patch things up. The bandaid they installed is doing well so far, and we’re meandering slowly to a safe landfall. The English adage “could be worse” almost came to pass today when a mob of enormous fin whales showed up. We saw one in the distance then a pair surfaced about 10 meters to port, parallel to the boat. That’s too close. We immediately began evasive action, turning to starboard to create some separation but then one of them decided to cross our path just below the surface. Harder to starboard, get the starboard engine on and making noise, engage prop for more noise, then hope Mr. Fin Whale decides we’re more annoying than interesting and moves on. Fin did move away from the bows and next appeared about 20 meters off the port stern following us. Gee whiz, what’s a mother to do? Buy them books, send them to school, and they eat the teacher?
Fin messed about with us for another half hour or so then moved on. I reckon we weren’t exciting enough for him. That’s OK, our excitement low light is no longer illuminated. Not even flickering.
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