Flying with Zelda

S.V. Turicum, July 3, 2010

After a great evening of 20 knot winds and beam reaching at our polar speeds, we were once again stalled in light airs and big sloppy rollers for ten hours. The mental attitude that one maintains throughout a long race like this is to be driving toward a goal that at the outset seems impossibly distant. When the boat is making almost no mileage through two watches, it is extremely tough mentally. First, one realizes that the time to reach the finish line, family friends, food and other amenities will inevitably be lengthened. But it is the more immediate issues that have a profound effect. Working hard to just keep moving can mean hard work changes sails and endlessly adjusting trim just to minimize the loss of time ever so slightly. Even when off watch, the noises below interfere with the ability to sleep or to get into one's own thoughts. The sounds of water slipping along the hull and the tension of a sheet under load being adjusted are replaced by the clanging of the rigging and the slap of water against the boat's beam or stern. These are disruptive sounds that are disheartening but at the same time require a redoubling of effort.

The good news is that we are now moving again at speed under our big asymmetrical spinnaker Zelda, which is meant to point us higher than any other A sail aboard. The boat is still fairly level which gives the off watch crew an easier time sleeping than when the boat is close hauled and you are sleeping crammed against your lee cloth.

The weather is getting warmer, probably due to the fact that it is just better weather rather than getting any closer to the tropics. Nonetheless it is nice to remove some of the layers. I hope to be able in the coming days to provide some description of the various jobs we all do and the unique satisfaction that each job provides. Clearly experience is the greatest asset and being one of the less experienced racing sailors in the crew, my perspective is one of discovery, learning from mistakes and deriving immense satisfaction from something done properly and efficiently. We are all very fortunate to have supportive crewmates and a profoundly knowledgeable skipper. Hale, the owner of Turicum is pretty damn smart too.

Hello all!

Naomi here. Just a quick note from Day 3. We are somewhere off the Oregon coast, I think, but out of sight of land (yay!). It has been a rather frustrating three`days, with spotty winds and cool weather, as described by Les previously. But nonetheless, it is great to back on the ocean again.

Memories of last Vic-Maui are resurfacing as we face life aboard once more: Gobbling meals before going on watch, wearing every layer I own on night watch, and diving for my bunk as soon as I am off to get much needed sleep. Staggering around the cabin like drunken fools, as the sea slops us back and forth, and sleeping in what feels like the interior of a washing machine. Aahhh...life at sea!

However, I am happy to say that, after all the frantic last minute preparations, the boat has come together in fine form, much to the relief of all.

So far we have seen a few dolphins, whales, a sealion and some sooty shearwaters skimming the waves. The water has turned from dark green to deep indigo....we are now bluewater sailing!

Naomi
SV Turicum