Pacific Crossing Part 6

Trying to power a 30,000 pound boat across an ocean using only the wind is a challenge. I believe sailing includes the Goldilocks principle. There is usually too much wind or not enough wind and rarely the perfect amount of wind. But, you have to find a way to make the boat move regardless of what imperfect amount of wind you are given.

After several days of high winds and big seas, we were looking forward to the forecast that said the wind and seas would be calming. Well, they did calm right on schedule. We still had roughly 15 kts of wind, but it was coming from directly behind us. So, the apparent wind was down to 7-8 kts. The biggest challenge with light winds from behind, especially when there is still some swell running, is how to keep the sails full so that they don’t flog. When the sails start flogging, the whole boat vibrates. It is not good for the boat or the sails and has the potential to break something with all those forces at work.

So, we went to work trying to figure out the right sail combination. With the lighter winds, we set up our asymmetrical spinnaker, which is a light wind sail like a kite or parachute. We set it once, and then the wind picked up to 20 kts. So, we took it down, set the pole and went back to wing and wing. Of course, as soon as we did that the winds dropped and we were flogging like crazy. So, down went the pole and the spinnaker went back up.

As we were sailing more downwind, we had to mess with the spinnaker for a while to get it t stay full. We kept letting out the tack which helped but wasn’t perfect. We studied it for a few minutes and concluded that the problem was that the main sail was blanketing it. So, we put two reefs in the main to shorten sail and let more wind get to the spinnaker. That worked. We got a good hour out of it before the winds kicked up over 20 kts again. Down went the spinnaker and up went the pole again.

Just like last time, as soon as we pulled down the spinnaker the winds dropped to about 12 kts. Ugh. We lived with the inadequate wing and wing set up for a while until we couldn’t stand it anymore. Mike called it a flog fest. We tried setting the spinnaker one more time, but sure enough, as soon as we got it set there was too much wind and it had to come down. We reset the pole and wing and wing set up. In order to try and stop some of the flogging of the main and potential damage, we put a third reef in the main. (Our jib already had a reef in it due to our pole incident.)

We looked at the wind, our sails and the seas. There should have been enough wind to keep us from rolling and flogging as much as we were. But, the problem now appeared to be a strange cross swell. There was a regular swell from the south east, but you could see a periodic perpendicular swell that when it met with the regular swell created a washing machine effect which rolled the boat violently causing the sails to flog.

I was lamenting all of the work we had done that day putting the sails up, taking them down, and then repeating it over and over. Mike gave me a sly smile and said, “that’s sailing!” When on my next watch, exhausted from the day’s work, I started thinking about how sailing is a good metaphor for life. Sometimes things work out, sometimes they don’t. Sometimes you have to repeat things over and over to get it right. And, sometimes you just plan mess up, have to start over and apologize for what you screwed up (which was me the following day when I accidentally jibed the boat while trying to heave to – a big no no!). So, if you want to experience life’s necessities of patience, perseverance and determination in a tangible, visceral way, just go sailing!

And, just like life, sometimes in sailing you need a little luck. The next day in our second day of lighter winds and the strange cross swell, we needed a little luck to lift our spirits. I was down below and was just about to ask Mike in the cockpit how it was going when we heard the fishing line zing on the reel. Mike had just dropped the line in the water a few minutes earlier. We hadn’t fished at all when we had the rougher sea conditions. We slowed the boat as quickly as we could and Mike went to battle with the fish. As much line as was peeling outs we knew it was a big fish.

Mike finally got it to the surface and identified it as a dorado (mahi mahi). It took two of us to get it around to the side of the boat and get it in a position Mike could gaff it. That sucker put up a fight! Mike got the stringer in it and cut the gills so it wouldn’t bleed all over the deck. When we finally got it on deck we estimated it at about forty pounds. It was close to four feet long! It didn’t fit on the filet table, so Mike had to filet it on the deck. We got all the meat in the freezer, which we estimated at 15-20 lbs. That will certainly feed us the rest of the trip. And, we had a delicious mahi mahi dinner that night.

We’re now about six days out from the Marquesas. We’re at that point in the marathon when you passed the half way mark awhile ago, but you can’t quite see the finish line yet. We are anxious to arrive and begin our French Polynesian adventure.

-Katie