Days 4 and 5

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

I’m clean! First shower on board, first shower since Saturday morning, which isn’t too bad. Light trailing winds and moderate seas make showering an easy task. Oh yeah…I pooped for the first time at about 4:30AM, now that was momentous, I was getting backed up. Had success again at 9:30AM today, I’m on a roll…well using one anyway. Okay no more poo talk for the duration of the trip, unless….

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During the day yesterday Dennis and John filled the fuel tank using 15 gallons from the auxiliary jugs we filled in Lanzarote. 15 gallons for more than 30 hours of engine operation is not bad, less than .5 gallons per hour.

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In the Afternoon John checked the engine fluid levels, all seemed to be good.

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Jens made Chicken Piccata-ish with baked potatoes and broccoli for dinner. It was quite good, making me think about how much Colleen and Shane love their Chicken Piccata.

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Nothing to report about the overnight, Dennis and Jens saw a ship pass during their first watch, that was about all the excitement.

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Jen’s made smoked salmon, veggie, cheese frittata for breakfast. I’m gonna have to step into the galley at some point to help Jens out. Keep in mind the galley is a one person at a time size. Dennis and I have been helping with clean-up and when it comes to utilizing all of the food that we prepared at Villa Azul in Lanzarote. We will step up to the plate helping Jens keep us fed.

The food that Dennis and I prepared is all in a cooler lashed to the deck, just forward of the mast. When we packed the cooler everything was frozen solid in vacuum seal bags, hopefully they are still frozen solid, no one has opened the cooler yet, that will probably happen tomorrow.

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Light rain and light winds so far today, though…

John just yelled down the companionway that we have some thunder and squalls coming, that should be interesting, hopefully not too interesting. He doesn’t seem concerned, that helps with any anxieties I may claim not to have.

Day 5

Wednesday, February 2, 2022,

COG (Course Over Ground) 240’m

SOG (Speed Over Ground) 6+kts

With the wind almost directly behind us, we are sailing “wing on wing”. The main sail is out almost to the spreaders to port and the jib is poled out with the whisker pole to starboard. This point of sail will give you both decent speed and a flat ride. You just have to make sure you keep the sails full, the main sail with the boom, if not lashed down properly, in a jibe, could fly across to the opposite side of the boat causing substantial damage to the boat or anyone’s head that happened to be in the way. 

Later in the day the wind and seas have picked up substantially, 20 knots plus sustained, gusts to 27 knots. Seas my guess are running upwards of 10 feet. We adjusted our course slightly and changed our sail format from wing on wing to a starboard tack with both sails out to port. Switching the main to the trysail, rolling in the jib and pulling up the stay sail.

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Jens cooked some steaks and roasted potatoes for dinner. Did I mention, I need to step up my galley game. Jens is doing too much, he doesn’t seem to mind, but I want to help.

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Winds have calmed down a bit, the forecast looks good, we have decided to leave the small sails, the trysail and stay sail, up to deal with changing them tomorrow morning during daylight. John wants to test the brownies. As a loyal crew member, I didn’t want John to have to try them on his own, so I “volunteered” to join him; I am a real team player. Remembering the “advice” from the shopkeeper in Lanzarote, we cut that in half. John had about a quarter of a brownie and I had about an eighth. It was plenty, that shit was strong, nothing over the top, no sea monster hallucinations or anything like that, just a nice glow. 

With our slightly altered minds, we had an uneventful watch. Talking, looking around and eventually I could concentrate enough to read.

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