The wind is humming in the rigging, as it has for the last six days since we entered the NE Trades. It’s blowing 18-25 knots true, not including the gusts. We’ve been flying under a reefed jib for days; even put on the mainsail cover to protect it from UV. Anthea’s charging ahead through the water at between 5.5 and 8 knots – the upper limits being when we take off and surf down the steep faces of the short duration wind waves that fill the horizon in all directions. Then, the sound of the rushing water permeates the whole boat, we rock back and forth through the acceleration, and then settle back to the steady rhythm of 5.5 knots and the familiar gurgle of water against the hull. This has been our reality for six days and likely another two before we make a sharp turn southwards. Our few square yards of dacron hoisted aloft have captured a tiny fraction of the immense power of these strong, steady winds, which will carry us on our voyage forwards approximately 1000 miles.
So far, this crossing has unfolded as per the script we had learned before departure. Six days of favorable NW winds brought us to the trades and we’ve been booming along and will continue to do so for another two days or so. We’ve haven’t seen another sail or other commercial vessel throughout this period – just the four of us like peas in a life pod, surrounded by the immensity of the ocean day after day after day. And Anthea is our life pod, providing all that we need to thrive during this journey. We made about 30 gallons of water a couple of days ago, and powered the water maker from our solar panels. Windy, our windvane, whom we have grown to love, steers us night and day and allows us all to remain below if conditions topsides are too wet and woolly. The list of life giving elements goes on and on. And Anthea is our pod as well. With her hydrodynamic hull and exceptional overall design she is the perfect pod, able to transform wind energy into forward thrust, safely carrying us through the water, down the waves.
The next stage of this voyage may not follow the script we had learned. From the weather files Kim’s downloading via our SSB radio and from her father’s daily weather analysis, it’s clear that the southeast trades have been disrupted by a 3000 mile low pressure trough that is also exacerbating the convection and associated thunderstorms of the doldrums. Will the southeast trades return to their seasonal norm by the time we get to where they should be? How severe might the thunderstorm/squall activity be and how should we navigate to minimize our exposure? We don’t have enough fuel to motor more than three hundred miles at the most, so much depends on how the weather develops over the next few days.
There are few times in life that one’s vulnerability to the larger forces of the world/universe are as apparent as they are to us now. We don’t know what script will unfold as the next stage of this crossing draws near. We will play the hand that we are dealt, safe in the knowledge that Anthea is our life pod and we the four peas in it. Mark
Latitude 10 degrees 19.3 minutes North
Longitude 130 degrees 42 minutes West