Becalmed!!!

The one thing that we really never thought would happen has happened. It is 3 p.m. on Sat., Nov 20, and we are becalmed at 22 degrees N and 32 degrees W.

Did you ever read those old sailing stories about sailors going crazy when they are becalmed? The boat rocks back and forth. Items in the cupboards roll back and forth. The sun through the windows moves back and forth across the walls. The woodwork creaks and groans. Time crawls. The scenery outside doesn't change.

We are alone. There is no breeze to carry away the scent of madness and despair. I absent-mindedly keep flicking my switchblade sailing knife open and shut. Pat has his darkest sunglasses on - completely obscuring his eyes. I know he is staring at me as I type these words that no one will ever see if we succumb to our rapidly decaying thoughts and primal urges.

There is only one way out…

Pat does what he usually does in situations like this. He comes up with a task or chore for us to do! :-)

The other day when we were flying the spinnaker and the winds hit 20 knots, we thought something at the top of the mast broke - we found the sail hard to pull down. We were not sure what might be wrong and couldn't see well enough even with the binoculars to figure out what it was. Pat's best guess was a damaged block at the top where the spinnaker halyard goes through.

So the repair plan was to hoist someone aloft with some tools and a spare block to fix it. At the top of the mast. In the middle of the ocean. With the boat rocking and the top of the mast swinging through an arc of 20 feet. Pat really does relish doing things the hard way so of course we decided to hoist the heaviest guy up there - Pat. And, even though I would end up being the guy doing the hoisting, I thought it was a great plan!

So, I cranked him up (after making him go pee first) and the repair was made in about 15 minutes. When the swinging was at its worst, he hugged the top of the mast harder than he hugs his wife, Michele.

So, what is it like at the top of the mast on a rocking sailboat in the middle of the ocean? Well, Pat is asleep right now trying to recover so he can't tell you. I will just report that when he finally finished with the repair and his stomach let go, he managed to get one urp out at the end of a swing so it went in the ocean off to port, and the next one went in the ocean off to starboard.

Now remember, Pat was basically the end of an upside down pendulum and we all know that a pendulum crosses the middle of its arc twice as many times as it hits either end of the arc, so it was fitting that the third and final urp hit the deck. But, it was nothing that a couple buckets of water couldn't fix, and we certainly have enough of that around us. Dr. Courneya, after a proper inspection of the deck spew, also made a vow to chew his breakfast better starting tomorrow.

So, we will sit here with no sails for a bit until some wind comes up and then we will resume our westward trek. Why not just turn on the engine? Well, we have to save our fuel to run the engine an hour a day to recharge the batteries and also save fuel for a real emergency - not just to get us out of a boring day with no wind.

Very few sailors ever get to cross an ocean. We’re betting an awfully small percentage of those ever go to the top of a 60-foot mast to perform repairs in the middle of the ocean. You heard it here first!

Posted by Peggy, on behalf of Tom and Pat, aboard Remedios, Atlantic Ocean