With the crackling of a monotone marine radio voice gurgling "Winds 10 knots northwest from San Francisco...wave frequency at 13 seconds...” We make the final preparations for our 12 day journey. The general consensus from the sun spotted faces of veteran sailors around the yard. “It will be hairy” Word from Captain Rick Whiteing is that there are four capes spanning the coast that are always nasty this time of year. Our hired mechanic Carry sips his fifth coke of the AM and grimaces at the perfect weather we have received over the last three days. “You know she is gonna turn for the worse as soon as we set sail...that’s the way it always goes when you get a span of weather like this in late September.”
The main sail has finally been rolled into the boom and our lines are marked for optimal raising and lowering tensions. We have a test sail around Alcatraz and pending weather and engine/sail adjustments we should depart on Friday morning. No more afternoon beer or cocktail hour everything has become extremely serious. We are working a 4 on 8 off schedule with two men always on watch, a log has to be filled out every hour. This will stay constant for the duration of the sail as we crash through the waves 15 to 20 miles off the pacific coast, heading north.
This will most likely be the last log for many days. We are projecting to make a stop somewhere after five or six days at sea. Check back in 10 days to see.
Stephen
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment