Update -- Howard and Dave worked on the front head for 2 hours -- confirmed: it's still not working. Now, the 5 of us are going to really get to know each other very well as we share the one functioning head on the boat.
There is the idyllic fantasy about sailing that you get rocked to sleep by the waves. The reality is: 1) you snatch sleep when you can and it's never more than a few hours; 2) your sleep is dictated by the angle of the boat -- if you're on the weather side of the boat, you are constantly trying to stop yourself from rolling out of bed on the lee side and hitting the floor. To prevent this, Howard has helpfully installed lee cloths that merely serve to tangle you up in a bunch of ropes.
If you are foolish enough to pick the forward most cabin -- the V berth -- not only do you roll from side to side, smacking each wall, but you get flipped up and down as well, like a poodle in a dryer.
If you are smart, as Tommy is, you commandeer a space in the middle of the boat.
And, if you are really lucky, you get the aft cabin, where the lee cloth stops at least one person from rolling out of bed, while the other person ends up rolling on top of them -- Howard likes this; Pat, not so much.
To combat these sleep issues, Bob and Dave have been practicing a form of transcendental levitation, where they hover over the berth as the boat oscillates beneath them. Little success so far, however.
The one consolation to all this heavy weather we've had on the way down is that we've not had to use the engine for propulsion since shortly after leaving the Chesapeake Bay. But we still have to fix the main jib in anticipation of the light winds that are promised to come our way.
We know that tomorrow is not Monday, but on our dinner menu is Red Beans & Rice from McGarvey's in Annapolis.
Hoping everyone in the rally is safe and sound in this heavy weather environment -- it's been an experience and we're all looking forward to letting our guard down once we arrive...
Anonymous Pat.