We're having strong (just under 30-knot) winds ... since late Sunday the passage has been MOSTLY "the pits". The wind is from the bow, and we have to be careful moving around as the boat gets hit by large "side-splitters" (my term) coming in from the west where the seas have been whipped up by storm-force winds.
Yesterday, however, I was able to sit in the cockpit for several hours to watch the dawn. A slice of moon was still hanging above some pink clouds. I noted heavy sheets of rainfall along the eastern horizon. Ahead of Traversay was an endless procession of black clouds and I worried we'd be in their path, but all of these marched off towards Oregon to dump their contents on hapless citizens there. Our own black cloud caught up with us somewhat later, and still has us in its thrall.
As I sat there I tried to imagine the passage our friend Paul Lim made as he attempted to get to the Galapagos from British Columbia. Reading his story with mindfulness brings with it a similar affect to nearly endless meditation; or that of listening to a mesmerizing repetitive loop of Philip Glass music. There is a poetry to his story and a heroism in his rescue of a little green sea turtle. It was instructive to try to place myself in his mindset ... watching the endless waves pass by, and the changes in the sky. During his passage he achieved mastery over his negative thoughts and impulses. Powered only by the wind (with too little fuel to start his engine) Paul finally landed in the Marquesas after 81 days at sea, near-starvation and at least 7 crossings of the equator.
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Here on Traversay we've been eating well. I had overstocked on fresh vegetables in Port Townsend. During the calm Sunday (motoring out the Strait of Juan de Fuca) I made veggie/black bean soup and I froze a tri-coloured pepper salad. Larry made a salmon-pasta dish last night. These are not too difficult to make and serve in bad weather.
It is so bouncy that I can only write this because the chart table (with the computer) is on the down-wind side. Luckily my sea-sick meds are still working. I used a 3-day scapalomine patch on Sunday and have just not taken it off yet. In a few hours at 0400 (when I return to watch) we should have enough calm for me to clean the dishes.
It may be miserable out here, but at least there are no crab-pots and no icebergs!
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At 24/04/2014 04:42 (utc) our position was 44°07.89'N 127°58.69'W
Amazing that you write blog posts in the conditions described. I will have to look into the scapalomine patches as laptop use would be a sure fire way to make me feel ill below decks. Hope you're having a better time of it now and I'm glad to see you back on the move.
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