SailBlog - Still South West bound...rather quickly

Mark A

28/11/2008, North Atlantic Ocean, off Western Sahara

The seas are bigger, the wind is stronger and we are headed south at a reasonable rate of about 6 knots with the predictions on weather that things will stay very much as they are for the next couple of days. This is great for us as we can begin to make good progress to our turning point for the trip West. There is the temptation to 'cut the corner' and head more westwards now but the forecast suggests that this would take us into light winds again and so we stay heading mainly South West.

Last night we saw a boat light briefly on the horizon but today we have seen nothing but the waves and clouds as the boat rolls along across the sea. In the conditions we find ourselves in the boat tends to rock from side to side owing to how the wind and swell affect the boat. At first it makes you feel ill but after two to three days this passes and moves on to become frustration. Frustration because trying to do the smallest of tasks involves being thrown around the boat, bouncing off the walls and generally spending as much time trying to remain balanced as to do the task in hand. Finally you push frustration behind you and become resigned to living on a bouncing, rolling platform. Still waiting to find out when you reach this last state though..

The boat needs to be managed round the clock; day and night we need to keep a good lookout for other boats. The sea may be a big place but it is amazing how everybody seems to want to gather in the same bit of it. We have a shift roster that puts an individual on watch for 4 hours.  They then should be available to support the next watch for 4 hours if required before retiring for 8 hours. This 16 hour cycle means that nobody is disadvantaged and we all end up working both days and nights. However, when your awareness of days is shaped by a daily sleep cycle you do find that you lose track of time wondering 'Is it still today? Or is it now tomorrow? And was yesterday actually today anyway? I'm sure you get the picture. Let's hope that it is today and this is the correct blog entry…