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Shelena - Sailing is fun because it is so unpredictable!



28:06.44N 068:59.21W

Day 5

We have passed half way now. ETA Nanny Cays on Sunday.

Life aboard is now pretty routine. The structure is breakfast where we all
help ourselves. Petri ends his watch around 0800 then off to sleep. Likely
Helen does some day time morning watch while I am asleep too. I now vary
where I sleep. Last night the seas were less confused and I returned to my
cabin just to find that my wife has abandoned it too, and has taken up to
sleeping in the saloon on the comfortable starboard sofa which is nicely
protected by the table and secure not subject to aft corkscrewing.
Basically, I sleep where I fall! I would like to see the World Cruising
Assoc run a competition to find out more about where persons sleep aboard. I
think it would yield surprising creativity. I have heard sleep places to
include the galley floor, the cockpit, the saloon and even the bunks! The
data collected should be distributed to all boat manufacturers for them to
ponder. Who knows, they might design comfort for all persons aboard. But is
it the case that sailors are duty bound to suffer!?

Aside from sleeping, eating and keeping watch what do we do? For me as
skipper, or as the US guys say, Captain, there is plenty to do. I keep a
close eye on navigation. I can track our yacht and spend hours pondering
different routes to Nanny Cays. For the non-sailors reading this, well one
of you, I am unable to simply point the bow to destination. Oh no, much,
much, more complex. There is the matter of where the wind permits you to
sail and balancing your end destination with wind direction and point of
sail that influences boat speed as do ocean currents. It boils down to
judgement. Do I opt for slower speed at the expense of shortest distance, or
do I max speed at the cost of a few extra miles? Do I go further to take
advantage of 80Nm of 2knot favourable current? Of course, all of these
variables are uncertain too. Added to the mix now is when to turn on the
main engine in absence of wind? Not something any seasoned sailor wishes to
do, but when winds become too light to sail the engine come on. How many
engine hours do I have? We can approximate, but as always the answer is a
range. Hope not to run short of fuel 20Nm from Nanny Cays! Meanwhile, the
wind is always shifting so trimming sails is something you can do a lot, or
a bit. Reality is that I find myself utterly absorbed in all that is going
on. No times for reading books. I wonder if most captains would provide a
similar perspective or is it me? I simply like to be hands on! Aside from
navigation there is constant cleaning of the cockpit to keep it looking
fresh. We need to keep our batteries charged and run our water maker. We
have enough water to shower daily.

All's well on Shelena,
Captain Phil


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