So here we are floating around out here and it's bliss. This is the world we live in and too many people unfortunately don't get to experience it like this.
This morning we woke to our watch at 6 am and about an hour later we were joined by a great pod of dolphins with smaller ones zipping around the three bows and jumping beside us while we motored along in the calm. We had left Bermuda the day before after another big system had started to pass. Even though it was still forecast to be around 30-40kts offshore we thought this better than the 30-35kts we'd get on the way down if we waited too long. We left Bermuda with a deeply reefed main, four reefs and headsail up. Spirit handled the first night in the large seas and squalls really well. That night we had the most wind we'd seen with 48kts true wind off the quarter and waves that were large but never felt as though they were dangerous. The next day this changed with the wind increasing to a solid 35kts continuous and gusting to 40kts. It was a cold dense and solid breeze though and it felt like the seas were growing again that next morning as the tops started to break and the foam pushed us around. At a guess we would have had a solid 15-20 ft swell. Surfing down them was great and as the last leg was a good opener for the boat this leg gave us more confidence to surf the waves and make good time. Even though our heading was about 20 degrees lower than we'd hoped this was ok as the easterly we were making would come in handy when we got further south and the wind tendered south east. Later yesterday afternoon the wind tendered north and became light. This was with relief as the seas were starting to get very rough and break. We saw some good sets come through and as always Spirit surfed them straight and fast never feeling uneasy with the speed or the way they pushed us around. Today we woke to an amazing sunrise and dolphins all around. It has blown no harder than 10kts all day and we have had time to eat well, dry all the interior out along with bedding and clothing that had started to smell a little after being so damp. We raised all the light air sails today. Drying them out and have a good look over them at the same time. Spirit came with an amazing amount of sails. Her main is gorgeous and made by North over 10 years ago and all her light air reachers and gennakers are done by Doyle. We're now reaching along with the wind at 6-10kts apparent and the boat speed is hovering at around 6-10kts with it being just above wind speed most of the time. The full mainsail is up and so is the big Doyle reacher that just seems to trim perfectly to the wind at 60-90 degrees. This sail has so much pull it's a hot sail and one that'll be used often in the tropics. I'm just looking at the moon shimmering on the water and the millions of stars that are out. Its times like these that you appreciate the simplicity of the world and have time to think about why we tend to make things so complicated. Life's simple we just seem to make everything complex and hard, while forgetting about how perfect it already is. I hope everyone finds times like these more often than not a this to me is what living is all about. Happy sailing!!!
1 Comment
Rick
9/3/2018 10:37:31 pm
Mate what an adventure I have loved your videos and looking forward to the day I can get my own tri. Love it. Question what is with the Nederlands flag?
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