Sabine (118) ARC blog update - 6 Dec 2022

Hello interweb friends, Captain Stape on sail boat Sabine right here (///mogul.extroversion.begins)
It was a very bumpy night overnight and I don’t think anyone got any sleep. And we awoke to a very wet morning, with a very wet Kia at the helm.
And this is supposed to be the ‘dead zone’.
I imagine a scenario where Sabine visits the ‘Weather Store’ before the trip to buy the weather we need for the crossing.
‘Can I help you miss?’ Says the weather assistant.
‘Can I have the Goldilocks, champagne sailing weather please.’ asks Sabine.
‘Oh, I’m sorry miss, those are all out of stock and on back-order for at least another month. Can I tempt you with some storm weather? We have plenty of those available.
‘Oh no, thank you. Ummmm, just give me a random selection of right wind but choppy, wrong wind but choppy, no wind and calm and sunny, thank you. ‘
‘We have a special offer - buy 2 calm and sunny days, or any other type of no wind days, and get a torrential downpour day for free.’
‘Oooh lovely, thank you, yes add them all.’
And so here we are today, wet, very wet, absolutely soaking though, and miserable! Well, miserable-ish. The crew are trying to keep their sprits high.
The wind is slipping us northwards (no keel on a catamaran, so we are literally sliding sideways through the water) so we’ll have to tack into the wind at some point to get back on track.
A seagull flies near us and tries to land on the solar panels on the back, but slips off and lands in the water. Richard swears he’s seen it before, on the way to Bruges last year.
The main sail is lowered, and whilst Richard is working the halyard, the seagull, clearly offended that he thinks they all look the same, tries to land on his head! It’s still circling around us when Kia throws some croissant into the water beneath it. The bird immediately lands on the water and devours the bread. This happens several more times until the small croissant has been fully consumed. Then Polina fetches another croissant (this bread is vaguely “croissant”: small, bulk made and individually wrapped in plastic for you lunchbox), and feeds that one to the bird as well.
Then she experiments feeding some Russian cheese she has - it’s only 3 weeks out of date, so should be fine. It sinks! Probably just as well. That’s a little less cheese in the fridge.
We tack, but stop moving. In fact. We start moving backwards! Yes, my interweb friends, you read that right. We were moving backwards - not the wrong way, but the seas and wind, despite us trying to sail forwards into the wind, had different ideas! The seagull was seen swimming passed us. We tack back, and start moving forwards again. It’s as if they’re is a strong current out here working against us.
And then it rains. And rains. And rains some more.
The wind dies.
Rain.
The wind picks up again, strong.
Rain.
It’s all hands and wings on deck as we try and make Sabine go the way we want, indeed need her to go. But the waves are too strong against us, and the wind is coming directly from where we want to go!
More rain.
Richard discovers that the borrowed waterproofs, ex-clipper racing Goretex, aren’t as waterproof as they would have been when new. The seat of the overtrousers is leaking through the seams making for a damp experience.
Rain.
The rain makes it’s way inside Sabine so towels are out around to help soak up the water.
Rain.
Kia and Richard are outside minding the helm and trimming the sails. This really isn’t the ‘Champagne sailing’ that Kia was hoping for. Far from it.
Even more rain.
We reef in, we reef out, in, out, in, out, the wind shakes it all about!
Guess what… rain!
There’s trouble with the generator, so Kia investigates while Richard man’s the helm with help from John and Polina. Again, we reef in when wind, and rain, suddenly pick up to 25knots. But again we struggle against the waves. Richard says that rain really stings when it hits you in the face at 25knots! John helps Richard with some steering tips. Which are gratefully received. And John and Polina man the sheets and furl in and out when required.
There’s relief when Kia starts the generator, which means we can lower a motor and start motor sailing again. But, more rain!
And that’s where I leave things this evening my interweb friends.
I’m hoping tomorrow will be just plain old boring and nothings happens! The crew are desperately trying to dry the clothes they’ve worn today, ready for more rain.
And that’s about it for today, my interweb friends. This is Capt. Stape signing off with 614nm to go. Ciao ciao squawk!