The Party's Over

08/15/02

    I had a horrendously miserable night last night.  Everything that could go wrong went wrong for me.  To start, the wind increased to 20 knots and the seas increased along with it.  This meant the return of the body slam in the bunk routine.  Also, I discovered that the dripping problem was not corrected by the caulking we did in Fernando.  It is now back, worse than ever. 

    At the start of my 0000-0200 watch, Eric told me to call him if the wind exceeds 25 knots and we would all reef the main.  I was nearing the end of my watch, looking at the wind speed to decide if I should wake everybody up, when the steering lines went slack on Victor and the boat started heading up into the wind.  I was trying to figure out what was happening, and didn’t notice Victor yet, when Eric sprang out, very upset that I had not taken any action yet.  I went out and hand steered while Eric checked the lines.  We decided to reef the main after the steering lines were fixed.  This time, when I raised the halyard after reefing, I did not have the halyard winch brake engaged all the way, and the sail dropped back down shortly after I raised it.  I could do nothing right.  At this moment, I feel quite discouraged with myself, as low as I have been the entire trip.  My bunk is soaked with seawater and I am sitting here dripping with sweat, for we have had to close all the hatches, and Eric is talking about putting another reef in the main, as the wind is exceeding 25 knots and doesn’t show any sign of letting up.  I am wondering if I am really mentally fit to continue the trip into the Southern Ocean, if I am having so much trouble holding up under these conditions.

    We just put the second reef in the main, and that procedure went smoothly.  We are still taking quite a bit of spray, and I have three shirts arranged across the shelf over my bunk, in an attempt to stop the dripping.  There are drips coming in all over the cabin today.  The waves have been beating the hell out of the boat.  Dampness is the word for today.  I can only keep telling myself that this is a temporary condition.

    We put up the dodger this afternoon, to prevent us from getting spray into the cabin, which happened all too often, even with the companionway hatch closed.  I am thoroughly soaked, even though I put on foul weather gear to go out.  The problem is that the foul weather gear is so warm that I sweat enough to soak myself as much as I would have if I wasn’t wearing it.  I generally am caked with salt, as is my bed sheet, which prevents it from ever getting dry.  As of 1700, things are calming down just a little.  The wind is between 15 and 20 knots and the waves aren’t hitting the boat quite the way they were before.  With any luck I can avoid drips tonight and sleep a little.