Seas around 10 feet with maybe some 15 foot waves at times (although I am a metric system person...so don't take my word on that) and winds betwen 25 and 30 knots all following day, on a tight reach. Had to take two reefs in the main. AP using up to 12 amp peak power. Crazy! Very unfriendly seas, attacking the boat from all angle. Basically living in a washing machine, full of wet fabric. Still pretty fun as boat was just flying along, screaming down the few waves I could surf on and just slice through water like soft butter. Exhilarating fun. Had to close off cabin entirely and discovered small dripping leaks I never knew existed...
The good news is that after you do Coastal Cup and reach in 40 knot winds, you know the boat can take this just fine so it just turns into a little fun.
Going down below definitely a relief to be out of the wind and more importantly out of the spray. Could only surf on a couple of waes here and there as otherwise, swell just wasn't going my way. Waves not big enough to overturn boat but big enough to break into the cabin and to give me a real cold shower.
Every piece of clothes I brought with me is now wet except for my socks because these boots of mine are made for sailing...My hair looks like celeri sticks.
Talked to Brian on VHF. Fantastic reception. Actually the first time he called I was down below eating (any time I would go up on deck to eat I would have a mushy piece of salty mess because it was too wet on deck. I had read all these stories about solo sailors hallucinating so I thought I was hallucinating when I heard 'Elise, Red Sky'. but then realized that I had a radio on and that it might actually be Brian.
Eating down below to avoid getting wet food. Just did a couple of repairs up on deck. A 'bang bang' woke me up. The jib car twisted itself out of its screw and was banging against the cabin. Fortunately the spring and the little cover were still on deck so I just put everything back together.
Shortly thereafter, the shackle of the turning block for the main halyard at the base of the mast just exploded. I had spare shackles so I switched to another one. Easy repair. The old shackle was totally shot anyway.
Heavy weather, both winds and now seas that have had heavier breeze for hours. Beautiful sunny day otherwise. B/c of no weight on the rail I have a very minimalist sail configuration which Elise seems to be handling just fine.
That was almost work!
My little control station. I wanted to get real input for my power budget so I spent sime measuring the current consumption of the autopilots (mostly at night so there would be no charging current). Amazing how hungry these little monsters are. I didn't measure this very scientifically and it is very coarse but NKE is very very power hungry. Very nice performance in terms of handling the boat but oh boy...on a reach in 30 knots, 184 Watt worth of solar panel will not be enough to keep the battery topped up basically. Most other situations I encountered during the qualifier would have the solar panel charge back the battery, except some of the heavy stuff upwind as well. Good news is that my SHTP configuration will be 204W, so a bit more than what there was available on that day.
This was one of my sleeping positions. I never really slept in my bunk. I slept 3/4 on the settee and 1/4 on the bunk. I slept on the floor but propped up by the settee. I had three cuchions that I was moving around to make a comfortable 'bed'. I slept outside (damp, bad idea). Not easy to sleep on the floor because flare box and tool box take up too much space.
By then I was eating well, sleeping well, had done several sail changes and was feeling pretty good about life despite a very wet butt. It was a bit rough but it was fast and I take rough and fast over slow and comfy any day. So basically all my nights were in 25 to 30 knot winds so far except for a short light air window at some point.
I was always clipped on when I was on deck. Falling overboard not an option...I could actually also walk into the cockpit clipped on so I would unclip and clip on while down below (where I would not be clipped on at all times. You can see my tether hang in the companionway. It is clipped onto the cockpit jackline.
This is a picture of the Doomsday Device which likes to decide not to give you the helm back from time to time. It drives beautifully I must say.
Some kind of flying fish hit me on the left cheek and two small fish landed on deck after a wave crashed into the cockpit (with a cold shower down my spine). I managed to rescue the two fish. Good karma. Ther was a teeny one too, smaller than nail size but I think I crushed it when I tried to free it...
You get so used to the humming of the autopilot...
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