More high winds, with sustained winds near 40 and a peak gust of 57 knots.
Decent seas as well, with swells that I'd guess to be 4-5m at times. Even
the guys who saw 80+ knots just outside Cape Town are saying that these are
tough conditions, not just high winds but sustained.
The waves are rather short and confused rather than nice long rolling
swells. This means we're slamming around a lot, flying off the tops of
waves like Sheriff Roscoe P Coltrane is chasing us and Waylon Jennings is
offering commentary. (That was Waylon Jennings, wasn't it? And are we still
allowed to have fond memories of the Dukes of Hazard, or have protesters at
Swarthmore gotten that banned as well?)
Just to mix things up, we drove right through one wave. I got to truly
eat my first wave, as this happened while I was on the bow with Tony,
securing the Yankee 3 to the stanchions so it wouldn't wash away. I got
swept back about 6-8 feet. (Don't worry Mom, I was tethered in and wasn't
going any further than that.) When the water cleared, I was laying on my
back, holding onto a sail tie, with my life jacket having automatically
inflated. The guys back at the helm later said we'd totally disappeared
under a wall of water. Meanwhile, Tony barely moved, the skill of having
been doing this from the start.
If the first few posts have seemed a bit up and down, that's because,
honestly, my mood has been as well. It's been a tough start, and I was
starting to adjust just as we had a really calm day, so I wasn't sure how
much was that vs. getting used to things. Today, though, was my favorite
watch so far, and it was plenty tough conditions, so I'm feeling a lot
more optimistic. Still, expect to read more about the lows as well as the
highs, like the fact that there is a persistent drip onto my bunk (where I
am now headed), whenever we're on a port tack. And I estimate we've been on
port tack for about 132 of the 141 hours we've been racing so far.
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