Day 10 – 5/31 – We got out of the high seas/gale area last night and conditions on board were noticeably better a few hours later. Although probably nothing for other sailors, in more than 40,000 NMs of sailing, the past 4 days were the toughest conditions I’ve ever experienced! Jeff and Rachael will probably never sail with us again.
We were sailing along nicely, people were having showers, and all was peaceful until I heard a loud banging sound. At first I thought it was from the shower head rolling around on the floor, but it was much louder than that. A quick look outside showed that one of the halyards had come lose and was flying around and banging on the boom. Anthony was below, so I ran out on deck and climbed up to the cabin top to coral it and put it back in place. Turns out the line holding had frayed and broke… Sheesh – just imagine if that had happened 18 hours earlier, at night, in 35 Knt winds, with the boat rocking and rolling! …
Later in the afternoon, we went through a few squalls, with a little rain to help wash the salt off the boat. As is typical, the squalls brought wind and then took it away. Plus, there were several 90 degree wind shifts, with lots of sail changes, but we were rewarded with a beautiful rainbow.
We ended up motoring about 6 hours last night to get through that windless patch, but it was the 1st time in 9 days… Hoping wind will pick up so we can “sail across the finish line” early Sunday morning!
I’m sailing away
Set an open course for the Virgin Sea
‘Cause I’ve got to be free
Free to face the life that’s ahead of me
On board, I’m the captain
So climb aboard
We’ll search for tomorrow
On every shore
And I’ll try, oh Lord, I’ll try
To carry on
I look to the sea
Reflections in the waves, spark my memory
Some happy, some sad
I think of childhood friends and the dreams we had
We lived happily forever
So the story goes
But somehow we missed out
On the pot of gold
But we’ll try, best that we can
To carry on
A gathering of angels
Appeared above my head
They sang to me this song of hope
And this is what they said
They said come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me, lads
Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me
Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me, baby
Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me
I thought that they were angels
But to my surprise
We climbed aboard their starship
We headed for the skies
Singing “Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me, lads
Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me
Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me
Come sail away, come sail away
Come sail away with me