Day 11 - November 19th

Day 11 - November 19th

It has been raining nonstop since I last wrote - both inside and out!  With wind speeds up to 38 knots and waves crashing over the deck every few minutes, I hardly notice the rain coming at me sideways.  However, we've learned the hard way that a warning call should be given to all in the galley every time we tack, as water manages to gush thru the ceiling every time.

After several days of taking turns hand-stitching, we were thrilled to have finally repaired the main sail and were zipping along at at a reasonable speed...only to wake up to the devastating news that the stitching had been ripped out again - this time further down the sail and therefore about twice as long of a rip!  We can't even begin to think about re-stitching it in this weather, so instead we sail along with nothing but the stay sail up.

With reports of 80 degree weather back home, while I shiver barefoot in somewhat windproof, but far from waterproof, foul weather gear for six hours at a time, I sometimes can't help asking myself how the hell I ended up here in the middle of the South Atlantic, and why the hell did I want to do this again?!?!?  But when I see three large pieces of plastic float by in less than an hour, and when each trawl we pull up has more plastic than the last, I am reminded of why I chose to partake in this adventure.  Other than a few Petrel Sea Birds riding the wind, and the few fish we've caught, we haven't seen a single sign of life out here.  Yet somehow, 1400 miles from Brazil and still many miles from the major accumulation zone, our trash manages to find us.  This, I remind myself, is why I am here.

With just ten minutes of my watch left, Jody slides past me, glances thru the window and asks me, "Is it hailing?".  I can't help but smile with the realization that I don't have to find out.  Instead, I can finally climb back into bed with dreams of still land, warm weather, feather beds, massages and hot tubs dancing thru my head...