Fryderyk - Day 17 Dec 6th, 2022
Day: 17
Date: Dec 6th, 2022
Position: 14'52,616N; 49'51,926W
Distance to destination: 644nm
We all had some weird freaky dreams last night. Now I'm trying to sleep before my night watch at 4am, but somehow I can't. My mattress is divided into 2 parts and sometimes... I can feel some soft pressure on the second half like... some airy presence is gently laying next to me... It's weird spooky feeling probably due to boat moving and bending all the time but yeah, boat night life is full of eerie little sensations. There are some noises that sound like a whispers (e.g., synthetic safety belt swinging gently agains wooden decor cabin wall) or generally voices... some indistinguishable inaudible sounds that are produced by the great forces of tension, friction, aero and hydro dynamics. At times I'm not really surprised that the Lovcraftian lore is so focused on a marine life.
This night I'm also hearing weird noises but tis time is water and wind, like we are rapidly speeding up, propellers start to whine scream, there's.... rain? Very heavy rain?? All comes so quickly and I hear Ania shouting to Szymon, suddenly I see a lot of water coming into my cabin (top hatch is open, only sun shutter is closed), I jump out in my shorts only and I see we've been struck down by a squall, we have to take our Code Zero down as wind got suddenly 30-35kt (from 12kt), we also go on full main sail meaning our total sails surface needs to be tripled down and quickly! Our speed is >10kt (quite a lot), noise from wind, rain, swell, buzzing water and sails being tossed and torn by the wind is so loud that we cannot hear ourselves. We cannot roll Code Zero sail, wind is too strong, we have to take it down completely, we all shout but we really cannot hear each other and it's only 5m distance between us. When I'm finally releasing the line Szymon is taking the sail down like he was literally wrestling some giant sea snake taking it down with a heavy back throw. I wish I had my camera with me as it's dramatic af! Eventually the sail is down before it's torn by the wind. We all get to our main saloon (our kitchen-saloon social space) to discuss this situation as not everything was working perfectly during this operation. Szymon explains what could be done better, safer and more efficient. It's mostly communication. Reminds me my in-land life as most problems originate in poor communication. Next time will be better, now it's time to release some tension, joke, eat candy, share cigarette. It's 00:30am, we go to our cabins, I have to wake up 03:45 to take my night watch.
The night watch was fairly calm, but it was all just the beginning. Our internet connection is back so we've finally received weather forecasts. It looks like Tropical Low will be our new friend and it'll bring its best buddy, Tropical Storm, to a party. 616nm left to St. Lucia and it seems like it'll be an intense season finale! :D
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