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Arkouda - Land So Close I Can Smell It!



Position 14 03N, 60 05W

The land is so close that I can smell it...well, not really...the wind is still coming from Africa so any imagined scents are just that, my imagination.

We have about 51 miles to go, although the last few hours have been frustrating beyond belief! This afternoon the winds became much lighter, and the seas more manageable--so much so that we finally unzipped that sail bag and put up the main. It is hard to believe that we have not used it since before our last landfall in Cape Verde. We had another fantastic afternoon of sailing--a good breeze, blue skies, great music and company. The winds were even allowing us to "go to" our waypoint set on the chart plotter.

When I went to bed there was a fantastic sunset. A few hours later I came up to check on Sean, and he was basking in the cooler breezes and moonlight, and watching the shooting stars. When I woke up again to start my shift I could see the dark cloud building up behind us, which is what we have been experiencing every night for the last week or so.

In the hour or so before the this black cloud approaches the wind drops, now down to 10 knots, just barely enough to keep us moving since we are reefed (our sails are adjusted, or made smaller) for the winds that might be within those clouds. The last few nights these little storm clusters would hit us, and we would turn almost dead downwind to ease the motion of the now huge waves. This also put our course more south, and then we would spend the next day moving farther to the north again.

Today we thought we would be smart and move even farther north, so that when the squalls came we could coast into St. Lucia on our southerly adjusted route. Well tonight I have just closed the cockpit covers for the fourth rain shower. The winds have only been increasing to 20-27 kts knots, and worse, they are moving in a direction that forces us, with our current sail trim, to keep heading North. I can't just turn downwind due to the main. We might just skip St. Lucia and head straight to Martinique! (Just kidding). I can hear the sighs now. You are a sailor, go trim those sails. And you know, I would really like to. But to do that I would have to leave the cockpit to untie the preventer, and I promised Sean I wouldn't leave the cockpit. This was our big compromise when we decided not to take on any extra crew. Yeah, I could go wake him up, and he would not care. But I would rather he get good sleep now, so that we can catch up with friends tonight! On Land!

I have spent an extraordinary amount of time tonight looking at how far north we are heading, and looking back at that preventer line. It is only a few steps out. And yet I know its best to wait the couple of hours for Sean to wake up. A lot of the mishaps that happen at sea happen as you approach the land. At least, that is what I have read. But gosh, it is only 4 steps out! The seas are not big tonight...

Looking forward to the post that announces "Land Ho", and sincerely hope that its not Martinique that I am announcing!

Cynthia

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