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American Spirit II - Day 408; A Lousy Day on the Ocean & Jeanine Barely Avoids a Critical Injury; Wednesday, February 18, 2015



One year ago today:

"Day 46; Motor Sail to Santa Cruz Island; Tuesday, February 18, 2014. Sometime in the middle of the night, I heard a commotion in the cockpit and when I climbed the steps and peered out I observed a large seal lion sitting on one of our recliner chairs in the cockpit. He had knocked down a container of pringles and a cup. When I say 'sitting' I mean sitting, now lying on it, sitting on it hike a person would. It was quite comical. When he saw me he turned and flew thru the starboard life lines and into the water. This event could have easily been a serious problem because when I went to sleep Monday night, I forgot to close the two doors to the downstairs cabin. If the sea lion had wanted to, he could have slid down the stairs into the boat's main salon down below. If that had happened we would have had a difficult time 'capturing' him and ejecting him from the cabin. With large canine type teeth, it would have been a dangerous affair. Our plan of attack would have been to wrap a blanket around him then lift him up into the cockpit. Dodged a bullet there!"

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Before my 6:00 AM watch Jeanine and Joel saw another oil rig derrick ship to starboard.

The sun rose around 5:30 AM into a cloud bank. So no green flash...again.

When I relieved Jeanine at 6:00 AM the wind was 15 knots and we were motor sailing at 6.2 knots thru the water and 5.1 knots over the land. Mostly sunny, with rain showers pretty much gone. We have one reef in the mainsail and no jib up.

At 7:30 AM the wind is 15 knots and we're moving at 6.0 knots thru the water and 5.1 knots over the land. There are two more oil derrick ships to starboard. I rolled out the jib at 7:15 AM. At 7:55 AM I rolled more jib out. The wind is 14/15 knots and we're motor sailing at 7.2 knots thru the water and 5.8 knots over the land.

I moved the potatoes from the main cabin to the cockpit, as they're 'leaking.' Yuck! I go thru the potatoes, and jettison the bad ones. Then hose off the rest. I'm keeping them outside from now on.

At 9:00 AM the wind is 15 knots and we're motor sailing at 7.6 knots thru the water and 5.i knots over the land.

At 9:15 AM I rolled up the jib. BIG squall ahead. 'Reef early and reef often.'

Joel got up at 9:20 AM. At 9:40 AM we enter the squall and it starts to rain...cats and dogs. At 9:45 AM I put a 2nd reef in the mainsail.

Joel hosts the 10:00 AM net. Civetta II is 20 miles ahead of us;and in the same storm we're in. Which means its a big storm. Our barometer is steady, so we think this is an isolated storm cell, not a newly forming low pressure system.

At 10:30 AM Jeanine slips in the cockpit after climbing the stairs from the main cabin, and violates a Prime Directive (Remember Star Trek?) on the boat. 'Always have one hand on the boat' when moving around, especially when going up or down the 4 steps to or from the cabin. She does not have one hand on the boat when one of the 5-8 foot waves we've been dealing with crashing onto the boat. Both feet slip from under her and she lands on her butt at the separation point between the cockpit and the cabin below. If she lands 12 inches further backward, she would have gone straight down the stairs and probably broken her back or neck; the latter probably resulting in her death. Joel is down below and sees the whole thing. I see the same thing from the cockpit. 'Look Mom, no hands!' Jeanine was very, very lucky. We talk about what happened, but she doesn't think she did anything wrong; says she had one hand on the boat. In poker they call that a 'bad hand.'

At 10:48 AM we turn 15 degrees to starboard as the wind has switched direction and is blowing 30 knots. The rain is really heavy. Like a bad thunderstorm in Tampa in the summertime.

At 11:55 AM I actually see a 'window' of blue sky to the west.

Our noon position is 10 degrees, 41 minutes South; 36 degrees, 0 minutes West; and we're 169 miles from Recife. Since noon yesterday we've traveled 119 mils at an average speed of 5 knots (4.96 actually).

We have breakfast at 12:30 PM. Freeze dried Chicken and Rice...for Joel and me. Jeanine has granola with powdered milk.

At 12:25 PM we roll the mainsail out and cut back on the engine RPM's. The heavy rain showers and squalls appear to be over...for now.

I type a log and some emails from 2:30 PM to 3:25 PM; then nap from 3:35 PM to 5:30 PM. Joel naps from 4:45 PM to about 6:00 PM.

At 5:35 PM I put a reef in the mainsail. The wind is now 18 knots.

The sun set into a thick cloud bank at 5:30 PM.

Joel hosts the 7:00 PM net. Only Civetta II responds. No Merlyn of Poole. They have 110 miles to Recife and we have 134.

Dinner at 7:30 PM is freeze dried Spaghetti with Meat Sauce for Jeanine and me; Joel has Chicken a la King with Rice. Plus we have green peas and garlic rice.

I increase our engine RPM's from 1,600 to 1,800 at 8:09 PM as we had slowed to 4.5 knots SOG (Speed Over Ground).

At 9:00 PM the wind is 18 knots and we're motor sailing at 7.0 knots thru the water and 5.1 knots over the land. The seas are 5-8 feet and the foredeck keeps taking on a lot of water. A lousy night. But at 9:20 PM I see stars to windward. Yeah! The wind is 16 knots and I can see the lume of two cities along the coastline 20 miles away.

At 10:00 PM the wind is still 16 knots and we're motor sailing at 7.0 knots thru the water and 5.4 knots over the land. I can see more stars. Starting at 10:08 PM I see lightning behind us towards shore; and then port abeam of us towards shore. I'm glad we're not hugging the coastline as we'd be in those lighting storms now. Joel and I considered running close to the coast to mitigate the effects of the current against us; but I don't like cruising along a reef at night. That and its a lee shore.

At 11:00 PM the wind is 15 knots and we're motor sailing at 7.1 knots thru the water and 5.4 knots over the land.

At 11:04 PM I see one 'mother' fishing boat and 3 smaller skiff size boats to starboard. Far enough away not to pose a problem. They're maybe 2 miles off.

At 11:42 PM the wind is 16 knots and we're motor sailing at 6.8 knots thru the water and 5.3 knots over the land.

Its unusual for us to have a current against us, as when we usually sail downwind the wind pushes the current with us. Not here, with the wind ahead of us. Once we get to Recife and then head north to Fortaleza in a few days, the wind and current should be with us.

Joel relieves me at midnight.

Brian Fox



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