As of last midnight we’ve been banging upwind in stiff trade winds from the Northeast. I set the autopilot to apparent wind mode, and went to bed. There was no sleep to be had. What’s it like to bang upwind? Well first the boat is heeling between 15-30 degrees depending on wind and wave action at any particular time. So I’m wedged, squeezed under my own weight. Then as we hit wave trains every 20-30 seconds, Changabang is lifted by the wave then lands on the backside with a more or less big bang, and a shudder of the whole boat. That repeats every two seconds for 3-5 times with more or less intensity. Not conditions conducive to sleep, you’ll admit. So this morning I finally extract myself out of my bunk with a pressing natural need, which I managed quite well considering the ruckus that’s going on all around us. Still groggy from a bad night I try to put my pants on, on the high side of the boat. Big mistake in judgement! A bigger wave comes iand swings me across the cabin. Oh how gravity sucks when it hits you like that! So in the leeward bunk I go to calm down a bit, do email, check forecast, etc. I finally got out to dispose of the morning delivery, adjust sails, drop the hydrogenerator in the water, and just see how wild things are here. We’re still headed for Hawaii, watching for an opportunity to make it to San Francisco, with maybe a pit stop somewhere in Hawaii.
You have a marvelous way with words, Philippe! I so look forward to your posts: As I click on my email I ask myself , “What fine mess has that crazy Belgian gotten himself into today?”
And you never disappoint.
If you stop in Honolulu, maybe you can get a patch on that boom…