Sailing Close-Hauled to avoid Paulo and Pedro

08/06/02

    It is now 1500 on the afternoon of the sixth, and I am still fighting gravity as I sit writing at the galley table.  The winds continue to blow from the south, and we must sail as close to the wind as possible to stay on course and make sure we don’t hit the Paulo and Pedro rocks.  These are two rocks that rise out of the middle of the ocean at 1 degree N 29 degrees 15’ W.  They are not lit, and we will be passing them in the night (with a new moon, no less), so we need to be very careful to keep clear of them.

    Last night, on my 2200-2400 watch, I was trying so hard to keep the course that I had Victor steering too close to the wind, and when I was down below checking the GPS, the boat rounded through the wind, backing both the jib and the main.  This caused Eric to suddenly roll across his bunk, wakening him.  He came out and helped me get the boat situated.  It was a very frustrating watch for me, as the wind conditions changed, causing me to first reef the jib, then later unreef it, and iteratively harden the main sheet to try to point as much as possible into the wind.  I had trouble cranking in the jib, as the starboard side winch is hobbled, the self-tailer doesn’t work until we get the parts in Cape Town, so I had to tail with one hand and crank with the other.  Of course, once Eric got involved the wind got more consistent and we were able to point in the right direction. 

   I felt very frustrated then, but later today I was a bit more successful at adjusting the sail trim to get the right course.  I’ll be very happy when this beating stops, though, if it ever does before we get to Fernando.  I would enjoy cruising so much better if we never sailed close-hauled.  I know, of course, that this is impossible, so I will just have to learn to live with it.