LORD'S PRAYER LOG, Part 04:
January 29, 2000 (continued)
2330 It has taken close to 3 hours first to download and then to pass the
outgoing email. Radio conditions were poor in the first part of the period, but
had improved substantially by the end of the period. I continue to struggle to
better understand the mysteries of radio communication.
January 30, 2000
0500 The wind has shifted more into the north, which necessitates a sail change.
I start the engine, roll up the dual jib, and stow the two poles against the
mast. I then shift steering control from the wind vane to the autopilot and stow
the wind vane. I decide to have a cup of coffee and wait for daylight before I
turn the boat into the wind and heave that beast of a mainsail full up. There
are still two reefs in it from a few days ago and that means pulling out the
slack in the reefing lines so that I can get the sail full up. I have shifted
backstays and preventer lines and more than likely there is something that I do
not have rigged correctly. The boat will have to be held directly in the wind by
the auto pilot so that the full-length sail battens will not foul on the lazy
jacks as I hoist. Something is certain to not be set up quite right and it will
be -oh so much easier - to see what I am doing in the daylight.
0550 A passing ship, which I had been watching for some time is going to pass
across my bow from left to right. He will be much closer than I feel comfortable
with when he crosses the bow and I wonder if he sees me. This prompts me to turn
the boat into the wind without further delay to avoid a close crossing situation
and to get started with the mainsail. The half consumed coffee cup goes into the
cockpit cup holder, where the motion of the boat proceeds to slop most of the
coffee onto the cockpit deck. I snap my tether to a jack-line that runs fore and
aft on either side of the boat and I make my way forward to the mast. With the
boat pitching and tossing about I climb up onto the deckhouse and begin
unzipping the top of the StackPack sail cover. As I run the zipper aft from the
mast, I have to duck under preventer lines and try to keep the tether from
tangling around my legs - a constant annoyance. At the same time I try to always
be hanging onto something solid with at least one hand. A couple of days ago in
the worst of the rough weather I lost my grip while working forward of the mast
atop the deckhouse. The next thing I knew I had been tossed into the air and
then crashed on my back onto the side-deck between the deckhouse and the
lifelines. While
in mid air I remember wondering if I was going to land onboard the boat or in
the water. Most guys that I have heard relate such an experience, have landed on
the rail half in and half out of the water. In every case it was the tether that
kept them with the boat. So I put up with the tether in spite of the fact that
it constantly tries to do a couple wraps around one of my legs. I move aft
outboard of the bimini top and hang on as best I can while reaching up to the
boom and then push the zipper all the way aft on the StackPack. After opening
the top of the StackPack, I free the main sheet, the preventer lines, the
halyard and the three reefing lines. I go back to the mast and pull the reefing
lines through blocks at the mast and lay the excess line out on the deckhouse.
Next, I go back to the
cockpit, where I shift the autopilot into the wind mode and then engage it and
adjust the reading to zero so that it will hold the boat exactly in the wind.
Then I play with the power lever so that there is just enough power to hold the
boat into the wind without driving the bow of the boat into the waves and
getting everything on deck soaked. I sip on what is left of my cold coffee while
I watch to see if the boat will stay in the wind. Now and then the autopilot
gives an error signal and tells me of a wind shift that is out of its
parameters. I press the button to tell it to keep doing what it is doing. I give
the boat a little more power and watch some more. I get the error signal again
and I press the button. Out loud I tell it, "quit whining and do your
job". Finally it looks like maybe the autopilot will hold boat into the
wind long enough for me to heave the mainsail up and I go forward. I heave on
the halyard by the mast. I have to hang my full weight on it to raise the sail.
But it goes up with the battens clearing the lazy jacks. Half way up the boom
lifts out of its notch in the gallows and it starts bouncing around banging
against the top of the gallows. There is nothing I can do except keep hoisting
and eventually the sail lifts the boom clear. With the mainsail all but the last
few inches up, I put the halyard around the mast winch and crank it up the last
little bit. I then lock the rope clutch
to hold the halyard fast and I take the halyard off the winch. Next I go back
aft where I am going to pull the halyard through and take tension at the cockpit
on that winch. Later I will return to the mast to release the clutch there. In
this manner, I move control of the mainsail back to the cockpit so that if at
some later time the wind strengthens and I wish to reef the mainsail, I can do
so without leaving the cockpit. But before I do these things, I turn the boat
out of the wind paying out the main sheet as I come to a course of 142 degrees
magnetic. I reset the autopilot in its heading-hold mode, adjust and secure the
main sheet, and haul out the dual jib to starboard. The boat is now on a port
reach with the wind about two points abaft the beam. I leave the engine running
for a while to finish the charge on the batteries.
0624 Sunrise.
0925 It is an absolutely beautiful day. The sky is cloudy but with breaks of
blue in the overcast and there are occasional peeks from the sun. At
31-30N067-21W, I am about 134 NM WSW of Bermuda. The air temperature is 62
degrees and the seawater is 68. There are widely separated large patches of
Sargasso weed floating about. There is something about the way that the air
feels, which reminds me of the way it felt on Kauai when Laura Lea and I were
there almost three years ago for business. I remember on the flight out there, I
had quietly vowed to myself while she slept at my side that the next thing I
would plan for the two of us to do was a real vacation in Bermuda. Laura Lea and
I had not had a lot of real vacations over the years - just the two of us - but
this was something I was sure she would want to do. And I remembered she had
told me a number of times
that someday she would like to go to Switzerland because she had loved the story
"Heidi" as a child. I decided then and there on the flight out to
Hawaii that it was time for the two of us to do these things. But alas! I was
too late. Two months after returning home, she was unexpectedly diagnosed with a
terminal cancer. And in what seemed like the blink of an eye she was gone out of
this life
forever. She never saw Switzerland and I never took the two of us to Bermuda.
What a shame it is that I allowed such opportunities in life to just slip away.
And I can still hear the words told me so many times, "Jim, please take
advantage of the time we have together". I would dearly love to be able to
visit Bermuda some day,but not now and not alone. I am not ready!
1200 There is a very nice breeze variable 10-18 kts just abaft the port beam.
Boat speed varies 5.5 - 7 kts. I expect to pass some 30 NM SE of my original
waypoint # 5 within the next few hours, at which point I will take up a slight
course change to waypoint # 6. The diesel heater is turned off and I have the
companion slide boards stowed for the first time since proceeding offshore. I
shall have lunch in the cockpit and do some reading. I am starting to feel human
again!
1600 I had a wonderful afternoon. I relaxed in the cockpit and read from one of
my greatgrandfather's books: "Stark's History and Guide to Barbados and
Caribbee Islands" copyright 1903. How wonderful it is when we make the time
to read the things written by our ancestors. How fortunate we are when our
ancestors have written something that can be handed down and we can gain insight
into their nature even across deceased generations. The exposure to Grandfather
Stark's
insights of a hundred years ago, prior to beginning the reading of more current
literature makes the study of the Caribbean region so very much more interesting
for me.
1700 Sunset.
1800 The wind has shifted once again. It is now on the nose and I am close
hauled on the port tack headed slightly west of south. It has been rather flukey
all day and continues to vary in speed and direction. Sometimes there's 18 kts
of wind and the boat is charging along. Sometimes there's only 6 kts and the
boat wallows in the long swells - at which point the wind vane is unable to
steer her. So I have shifted to the electronic autopilot, and it is working like
a champ in these conditions. According to information received via weather fax
today, I can expect a cold frontal passage sometime tonight. With its approach
the wind should veer clockwise and increase in intensity to about 30 kts. If the
wind strengthens as forecast, I will need to reef the sails sometime during the
night.. Everything is set that I may do this from the cockpit, when the wind
starts piping up.
2200 I have passed about 50 NM to the south of waypoint #5 and continue to steer
as close a course as practical to the wind; it is not close enough to fetch way
point #6, which is currently some 500 NM (about 4-5 days) ahead. But after
passage of the cold front the wind will veer further around to NW and will
become a fair wind. So for now I am driving the boat as far south as possible
before frontal passage occurs even though it means I am headed back somewhat
west. It is my preference to continue gaining as much distance as possible from
the latitudes of the winter storms. With the fair Northwest wind later on I will
once again resume my southeasterly course, working my way both east and south
until I pick up the northeast trade wind belt and then I shall turn south for
Barbados.
January 31, 2000
0050 My position 30-34N 066-39W.
END OF LORD'S PRAYER LOG, Part 04
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