I never thought it would happen but it did: I got bored while sailing.
We have just ended the most boring of all miles under sail. 800 miles of
reaching with only white sails up (No spinaker, no sail changes), in the
same windspeed from the same direction with the same seastate (apart
from the occasional but regular cluster of small waves) and the same
cloud cover (alto stratus) and the same distance ahead of
Spirit of Australia. Three and a half days of everything the same does
really get me bored. Maybe this is where the real challenge in this race
lies: how to overcome boredom. Despite the boredom I could still focus
on boat speed but it was a lot harder than when things a rapidly
changing.
All sorts of shitty things happen when I get bored. I start analysing
everything. First the current situation: how does the team work and
not work, what sort of characters are there on the boat, how do we
work together how can we improve working together. Al very tiring
stuff. After that I deal with the past and that is even more boring! At
the same time on a more positive not I am designing the interior of my
to be acquired boat and in parallel (if I ever find employment again
and manage to get a mortgage, which is apparantly easier for a house
than for a boat hence the parallel designing) my potential house. There
seems to be a big role in both projects for pipecots, white and blue...
My immediate surroundings does inspire me ;-)
Also when I get bored I have the need to do something: so I went up the
mast to recheck the cracks I found earlier to ensure they were not
progressing. The wind has been around 20 knots but I managed to goup
in a slightly more quiet spell. Luckily... It was the ride of a
lifetime: I was swinging back and forth, collecting bruises from the
rigging and frantically trying to find grip on other halyards and
stanchions. No harm done eventually but I was dripping with sweat as I
came down. Bloody hell! Anyway the rig was in no worse state and
according to the experts who are safely behind their desks there is no
need to slow down, so we don't.
Last night the weather that we had anticipated already for 2 days
finally arrived. The weirdest thing I have ever come across. The wind
dropped about 10 knots and turned 40 degrees and within several minutes
it picked up and moved back to its old speed and direction, held there
for 15 minutes and then the pattern repeated itself. This lasted for almost 10 hours. Nothing I had ever expected to happen in the middle of the
ocean and really bizarre. It was hard to follow because there was no
moon out and the sky was overcast so there was no light from the stars
either and we had to adjust trim and focus on our course in the pitch
dark. A nice change though from the boring days.
Ahead of us and basically a round us is the last hurdle to Australia: an
impressive high pressure system that does not want to move. We expect 2
days of light airs and unfortunately this system casn make and break our
lead. We are really motivated to finish ahead of our rival Australia and
beat them into their home port.
I am looking forward to finishing the race this time. I can do with a
break from the boat and my new on board family and also very much look
forward to seeing my sister and spending time with her. 700 miles to go!
