Well, all our prayers and sacrifices have apparently appeased Shifty. Savauge is humming and the winds have built to a steady 12 to 16 kts. It could have possibly been the Boyscout's secret offering. He truly lived up to his name and was prepared. Who else would have thought to bring along something to give up to a wind goddess that didn't even exist when he packed it. We had a somber ceremony this morning and out of an inside out Dorritos bag came a Captain Morgan's rum plastic medallion hanging from a red bead necklace. We offered this up and have enjoyed a breeze ever since. The other part of the prayer was that this wind was for us alone and would shut off after we crossed the finish line. You never know. In any case we have less than 700 miles to go and are in 2nd place. We have our work cut out for us.
Advanced fatigue has settled onto the crew of Savauge. With only 4 hrs out every 7 hrs off, having to use that time for all other than sailing activities and then being called up for jibes. Getting back to sleep is sometimes difficult. Slowly the rest bank gets depleted. I knew I was getting pretty tired when in the darkness of this morning I had my right shoe on my left foot and was trying to get the left on the right. I couldn't figure out why it was hard to my shoes on. When I figured it out I realized I better be careful on deck, I could hurt someone. Last night I found Yosemite Sam asleep on the nav station and Bigfoot is walking around like a zombie. The only one holding up well is Buzzsaw, who can be snoring 30 seconds after closing his eyes.
We hope Shifty graces us with some nice squalls tonight. A squall can give us 18 to 22 kts of wind and boat speeds of 9+ kt average and surges up to 12. Sometimes we'll ride these for up to 2 hrs. Its a hairy ride but fast and right at the finish. Its what we will need to hang on to our position.
Oh a sailor's life for me.
Spanky
No comments:
Post a Comment