Leg 6 Race 2.. A flippant flyer, and a frustrated fisherman.

07.04.2024

We have had a lovely time sailing since we made our decision to continue east. Following the split, and the initial storm of 40knot winds and 22knot surfs, we have had mostly calm downwind sailing, with a sprinkling of upwind in between to carry us gently along our chosen path. The weather reporting has been a tad frustrating at times, we are surrounded by wind holes, as they mark the face of the North Pacific like a bad bout of puberty, however they are and aren’t there as we end up consistently about 30 miles away from the forecasted wind; of course this is to be expected when forecasting the largest body of water in the world, nonetheless it makes a huge difference to our decision making. The other boats, whilst we have been cruising along downwind at 12 knots with regular 14knot surfs, have been beating into heavy wind for the last few days up north; they have been sailing smashing waves, on an angle, with 50-60knots of wind, and they’re more north and therefore much colder than us, and now much slower than us as they run away from a wind hole the size of a small continent - I honestly can’t see where we’ve gone wrong.

Following the wicked weather we had earlier, my shoulder has taken a beating, it’s not as bad as it was but it’s on its way, I’m going to have to rest it properly if I’m going to be of any use in the next big system. So, following the heavy heavy stuff we had a gradual decline in wind and wave ferocity, which became a perfect opportunity to do some proper helm coaching with our already very capable helms that are very close to storm worthy; for the next one I hope that we can have more people ready to take on all the intensity this ocean has to offer, it’s likely the systems ahead will be even bigger. Everyone is doing amazingly, helming is one of those things that you can never stop learning about, the moment you think you have it all nailed down is the moment you’ll become stuck. With every change in seastate it’s as if you have to relearn the helm when you take the wheel, recognise the patterns, the wind and the water ahead of you and use the already learnt skills to attempt to tame it. Some days you will have to hold the wheel wiggling your finger as though you were taunting a cat, the next you might have to play shot put, forcing it hard one way and then easing off as you reload. Weird thing, helming. Adaptability is key. Doing less is mostly more.

Pressing on into the night has been troublesome of late as the sky has clouded over and great swathes of rain pour over us; all of my heavy waterproofs are soaked through, my dry suit is just about hanging on, and my mid layers just about keep the wet from my base layers, which are damp but quickly sorted by a quick spin in my sleeping bag; my must boots are awfully good at water retention, seal skin socks and my AC’s (no more crocs…) work brilliantly in comparison. What has astounded me about our night helming at the moment is the fishing boat that decided to drop nets right in front of us. This net, linked by buoys shown on our AIS, was 13 miles long. I didn’t know they made lines that long. This is 13 miles that has forced us down, just west of south, in the wrong direction, while Dare to Follow, who we had reeled in to just 18 miles ahead, and are in fourth position, power on towards Seattle. Very frustrating times  currently, but our sailing of late has been really great, it seems as if the gamble is paying off. Within the next day or so we will know for sure. I hope whoever’s fishing catches some good fish, why they’re out here so far from land astounds me, I hope they’re enjoying it as much as we are.

Saw our first albatross since crossing into the northern hemisphere today, a beautiful big mottled grey black winged bird, with a white, grey speckled body. As it swooped up and around our dragon, a pod of yellow striped dolphins (will have to investigate exactly what they are in Uncle’s whales and dolphins book) came to say hello, jumping up higher than our heeled guard rail to get a good look at the confused bipods in the middle of their home. Beautiful beasties, a proper pick-me-up and proverbial happy pill on a grey mizzley day.

Will x