It has been a bash to start the passage. Lots of loud, violent bangs as waves slap into the bridgedeck underneath my bunk. The vibration wakes me from sleep and the ongoing noise lengthens the time it takes to get back to sleep. On my watches in the saloon there is less movement (it is in the middle of the boat) and not as loud, but since I am on watch and can’t go to sleep it doesn’t realty help.
All in all it is a good first night, we are making good boat speed and the sun rose on my watch as a bonus. Seems everyone only managed two or so hours of sleep, so coming off watch at 7am I skip coffee to get a few more minutes of sleep. As the day progresses we get larger waves (3.5 meters) with wind in the upper teens to low twenties giving us an average of 6 knots per hour (for the first 24 hours ending 2:50pm and a total mileage of 234.1nm) since raising the sails.
I whipped up some chicken, potato, carrots soup with a big salad. Given our simple dinner last night everyone enjoys a hearty meal. The sun was getting low, so right after it was time to do our evening inspection. I found a pin in the mail sheet traveler trying to work out and the anchor slipped a bit (it is tied off). While correcting the anchor I took two large waves soaking me. But it was all good as I stayed on my feet and the light jacket/tether remained as safety equipment. The leeward shrouds had about ¼ inch of salt built up so yeah, we have been getting a lot of waves and spray…
Inspection complete I headed for a hot shower followed shortly by sleep. Yep, 7:30pm and I was out like a light, managing three hours sleep with only one wave waking me in the middle before my 11pm watch. Definitely better conditions than last night.
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