We had great wind all day yesterday and all night last night. We couldn't use the wind last night because we parked the boat due to low visibility. We would really like to avoid hitting that frozen water. So while we sat there with our sails set opposite of the tiller going nowhere, the beautiful wind died down. The wind is gone, but the waves have not settled down. This leaves us bobbing around with all the grace of a discarded Styrofoam cup. We have just enough wind to sort of keep a direction going. We know we are moving because our dingy is still behind us. Hats off once again to our self steering gear that seems to be able to steer in wind we can barely feel. The girls are learning to do more and more on their watches. Today they learned how to operate the radar system. One of us is always up on deck when they are on watch but the day will come when they handle their own watches. These are conditions we really don't like, second only to motoring somewhere. It is rough enough so that is difficult to do anything like read or journal so everyone is catching up on sleep (which is also difficult to do.) The wind is supposed to pick up tomorrow, but the light wind conditions are supposed to come and go for at least the next 5 days.
This kind of stuff is what sailing is all about. My brother mountain climbs. To me mountain climbing is about being in control at all times. Sailing is all about managing that which you cannot control. We are getting plenty of that right now.
Rolland for the Trowbridges
No comments:
Post a Comment