Horizon, Day 1: It’s been a day since I cast off. The sea has been angry with me all night. Chastising me for a bad start? Washing off my sins? Horizon and the yet to be named Windvane did me a solid. I tended to their needs and they kept me safe. 30 kn gusts, went south a bit. Daylight reveals the carnage, but also gives me back my confidence. 🙂
Horizon, Day 2: Sometimes I have more choices than I need. For example, all my gloves are either damp, a little wet, or wet. If I choose the damp ones they might get wet, so I decided to wear the wet gloves. That’s a problem I was solving last night. Bummed to see my friend turn around. This morning seas are relaxed, feeling good. Morning made better by chocolate covered almonds.
Horizon, Day 4: SSDD = Spinnaker set, Deep downwind. I’m trying to get out of low wind as quickly as possible. Working a lot harder today than any other day trying to get the boat to move. Finally moving at 6, with 8 on my back. Not in the direction that I want to go, but I’ll take it.
July 1, 2023 I requested a dinner reservation with 360° ocean views. Fortunately they had a table for one.
July 2
Horizon, Day 7
This morning, the Pacific surprised Horizon and I with a gift of flying fish on deck to commemorate one week at sea. I respectfully returned them to the ocean because they couldn’t help me trim the sheets.
July 4
Here’s Horizon latest race report. Safe travels to Kauai!! See you there!
Horizon, Day 10 They tell you to just wait for a squall and you can shower. What they don’t tell you is that you’re probably nervous as heck trying to avoid the squall and making sure it doesn’t rip anything out. So, I just used my shower head in the cockpit today for my first shower underway, with views of the setting sun and amazing clouds! Don’t shower in a squall. Happy 4th!
Horizon, Day 10
90% of my trip has been with the wind wane steering. Yes, it is slower, but I feel safe knowing that any sudden wind shifts won’t negatively affect my rig when I’m snoozing. Also that I am not stressing my ship’s rudder, which seems to be a frequent cause of failure for some boats in the past. I was surprised to see that it outperformed my auto pilot when deep reaching. It especially shines at night under a starlit sky mirrored on the black sea by sparkling bioluminescence gushing over my side decks and in my wake. I often think about how privileged I am to be part of a timeless tradition of Polynesians who charted these same waters eons ago. I can imagine their excitement at nightfall which was their only way of knowing where they were. Although they would have had bad luck on this trip. Most of the nights have been very cloudy.