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Hada - 19 days of Pitch, Yaw, Pivot... with 300 miles to go!



HADA Day 19
19 days of Pitch, Yaw, Pivot... with 300 miles to go!
Friday December 13th, 2013 10h58m UTC-4
Post #10
(5 pics attached)

Greetings once again from from Anton, Ed, Stu, TJ & André aboard HADA, reporting from Mid Atlantic, 14 degrees 09 minutes North, 56 degrees, 00 minutes West.

HADA is sailing steadily and confidently westward, with a bit more gybing (zig-zagging) required than we hoped for - the promised wind from the NE never materialized, blowing instead mostly from 90-110 degrees. We have about 300 miles to go, with landfall now expected to occur on Sunday.

Crew is healthy and in good spirits, with everyone processing the slight disappointment from the slower than expected progress.

Spirits got lifted however as we enjoyed another amazing meal yesterday evening, with fresh off-the-hook Mahi - at almost 30lbs our biggest catch yet. Ed was seriously challenged to keep that one on the hook while reeling him in; the Mahi put up a HUGE fight. Filleted once again in masterly fashion by Anton, and then prepared in a spiced batter and served with some good ol’ german potato salad, all washed down with some nice Rioja.

To date we caught - and consumed - five fish over 18 days. Food provisions aboard continue to be abundant, with the frequent catches slowing our rate of consumption of the freezer & dry food stores.

All the cooking generates lots of dirty dishes daily - the cleanup of which has become a symphonic operation typically led by TJ & Stuart - with their performance taking place on the aft swim platform nightly just before the sun sets, some times later. We wash the dishes in the surf behind the boat to conserve fresh water. T’was a good thing, for HADA’s fresh water tanks ran dry today. We do however have plenty of drinking water in 5L canisters, enough to get us to St. Lucia.

Have you ever gone to the paint store and watched one of those machines that mixes the paint in a can by shaking it in every direction? Living aboard for nearly three weeks is a little like that - our bodies being constantly moved, pushed, and shoved, as HADA pivots, pitches, and yaws without pause, sometimes in all directions at once.

We got to used to it, and can now cook, clean-up, fix stuff, do laundry, shave and shower (using saltwater, either on the foredeck or the aft platform), and do pretty much anything else, at times not even noticing the constant motion. Our muscles however do notice, as there is always a reaction to brace, push, or pull ourselves in the endless attempt to stay upright, not fall, or even just lie flat.

It will be fantastic to soon get a full night of sleep, un-interrupted by night shifts, and without the “bed” moving continuously underneath us.

After that, I for one can’t wait to walk again for a distance of more than a few feet :-)

André

HADA Pitchin
HADA Dish Symphony
HADA Mahi3
HADA Mahi2
HADA Mahi1

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