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@teamtigress - Changes in lattitude, Changes in attitude



@teamtigress blog by Joel Nelson.

We’ve finally reached the trade winds that steady friend of westbound sailors.

After days of beating or reaching upwind in the squally darkness under storm Jib and tri-sail, always wet and usually cold, “the trades” became a destination in and of themselves. The collective high emitted by the crew upon emerging into the warmth nearly filled the spinnaker.

Trades day 1 - bring up all the wet stuff(everything) for airing on deck in the sunshine. Cushions, bedding, clothing, all festooned on the topside.
Trades day 2 - Gonzalo is hit by a flying fish on a kamikaze mission. Too small for fresh sushi, it’s thrown back into the sea. We catch a brief glimpse of 4 orcas (real life orcas). Our first perfect spinnaker drop. The skipper has hope of making us sailors. Outcome the sunscreen, sun hats, sunglasses, bikinis, and board shorts. The crew are all freckled with multi coloured bruises, lounging on deck under a cloudless sky. Only now, it seems we remember our ultimate destination is the Caribbean. We are getting into Caribbean mode. Every now and then I catch the faintest sound of a steel drum band on the wind. My mouth starts to imagine an icy rum punch. We are rolling down wind getting closer each hour by a steady 8-10 nautical miles. We rookies aboard have a word for all this, we call it “sailing.”

Joel Nelson
@Teamtigress ARC 2017 Crew



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