My 7-10 shift last night was beautiful. We are well off the coast of California but still running on California time and it is light until past 10 pm. The last hour of my shift the sun was starting to wane and coloring the fluffy white clouds in shades of yellow, orange and pink. It was spectacular and I hope some of the photos will do it justice.
Before I went off watch the skipper and our tactician were discussing the merits of the #5 spinnaker we were flying. It had been a last minute purchase and had turned out to be excellent for the conditions. They decided to fly it as late into the night as they could, until it got too windy or conditions otherwise got too bad to keep carrying it.
I went below and was resting in my bunk, thinking about the sounds the water made against the hull and all the creaks and groans and clicks and clacks the boat has developed in the past nine days. The next thing I knew it was an hour later and the sounds I was hearing were mass chaos on deck. I tried to ignore it but finally got up in time to help John drag a wet and shredded #5 spinnaker down the companionway hatch. The crew in the cockpit had to cut a line free from it to get it down to us. There was much discussion about what this line might be wrapped around underwater that was keeping us from pulling it free. John and I got the remnants of 5S back in its turtle and I went back to bed.
On my next watch I got the story that they'd called some off watch crew up to douse the spinnaker and somehow through a series of unfortunate events the spinnaker halyard was released too early and the spinnaker went down in flames and died a glorious death. We were able to free the line from around the prop / shaft this morning. Brad suggested we make it into bracelets to have mementos of our dearly departed 5S.
Unrelated notes:
1. I've lost my pillow
2. One crew member's shoes have been banned from the cabin
3. We are rationing baby wipes
4. We have plenty of TP
Before I went off watch the skipper and our tactician were discussing the merits of the #5 spinnaker we were flying. It had been a last minute purchase and had turned out to be excellent for the conditions. They decided to fly it as late into the night as they could, until it got too windy or conditions otherwise got too bad to keep carrying it.
I went below and was resting in my bunk, thinking about the sounds the water made against the hull and all the creaks and groans and clicks and clacks the boat has developed in the past nine days. The next thing I knew it was an hour later and the sounds I was hearing were mass chaos on deck. I tried to ignore it but finally got up in time to help John drag a wet and shredded #5 spinnaker down the companionway hatch. The crew in the cockpit had to cut a line free from it to get it down to us. There was much discussion about what this line might be wrapped around underwater that was keeping us from pulling it free. John and I got the remnants of 5S back in its turtle and I went back to bed.
On my next watch I got the story that they'd called some off watch crew up to douse the spinnaker and somehow through a series of unfortunate events the spinnaker halyard was released too early and the spinnaker went down in flames and died a glorious death. We were able to free the line from around the prop / shaft this morning. Brad suggested we make it into bracelets to have mementos of our dearly departed 5S.
Unrelated notes:
1. I've lost my pillow
2. One crew member's shoes have been banned from the cabin
3. We are rationing baby wipes
4. We have plenty of TP
4 comments:
Oh the joy of long term sailing. You guys are making headway, keep it uo!
lov ya
Pineapple Girl, a friend of mine at work wrote me yesterday: "I read all Jennifer's blog about her sailing to Hawaii. It's great. She is a very good writer. I enjoyed everything she described. The sailing experience sounded wonderful. The spectacular views, the dolphins, and the whales made it so special. I wish I could see the scenes she described. When you get the pictures, please share them with us."
And this morning she told me this again, in person. She also said that she could never go sailing herself because of seasickness.
Have you given any thought to writing a book about this adventure, or perhaps a fictional story set in the world of sailboating? My friend could read it and go sailing in her mind....
Another comment, this time from a student who has applied through the university program I administer: "Sir, I looked at the website and the first thing that grabbed my attention was the name Pineapple Girl. I think it is a very cool name. :) I'm still reading about her trip; it's fun and I think she is brave girl."
The girl's father, too, thinks she is brave.
I just heard from Pineapple Girl that she's "got the seasickness med for [my friend mentioned above]! Zofran!"
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