Yesterday’s rough sea conditions (after getting into the open sea) jolted us into the reality of the passage. Overnight the very bright, nearly full moon was wonderful giving us lots of light. Things improved as the night progressed, however there were still some loud, violent banging on the hulls from waves.
Around 2:30am the wind had dropped to less than ten knots and the engine was required to keep us moving at a reasonable clip. When the wind died completely (midway through my second time off watch) there was a loud bang that immediately woke me. The jib sheet traveler had hit its stop, due to the sail occasionally flogging. After twenty minutes I gave trying to sleep through it and made a couple adjustments, eliminating the banging. By then I was wide awake, unfortunately I ended up losing an hour of sleep.
Once the sun was up it was back to 100% wind power. Following morning coffee, our first fish decided to grace us with its progress. Unfortunately, after a lot of arm work it turned out to be a skip jack. Damn, back to the sea it went.
Laundry was needed, and since there was plenty of sun that made it laundry day. We also played some board games. And most importantly everyone took a nap or two. The big excitement came around 3pm when a massive pod of dolphins came and played with us. Easily three or four hundred. It was quite a show with jumping, wave surfing, and dodging under the boat. They stuck around for 15 minutes. As always, dolphins are a welcome sight as folklore tells that their presence brings good luck on a passage.
The seas continued to mellow and a good wind angle meant that we were cruising along at 6.5 to 7.5 knots. Definitely champagne sailing conditions! A nice dinner and a restful first sleep break for each of us to close out the day.
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