20:42:00 UTC Tuesday Nov. 23, 2015Position: 15.902897N, 42.387746W
HOW TO LIVE IN SWELLS!
Rule #1: hang on!
Rule #2: hang on!!!
you need one hand to hang onto something on the port side when the boat rolls to starboard and a second hand to hold onto something on the port side when the boat immediately thereafter rolls the other way. The third hand is then needed to hang onto your drink and a fourth hand to hold onto your plate with food (or your computer on which you are trying to write a blog entry) which are about to slide off the table. Sounds easy, ISN’T!!
Typing takes three times as long, since the moment your finger descends on the “e” the world under your hand moves sideways and you type the “w” instead.
Getting coffee out of the coffeemaker demands a special technique. You stand in front of the machine with legs far apart and your backside tightly squeezed against the cupboard behind you to achieve enough stability to be able to do something with your hands. Then you get a cup, put it under the spout with your right hand, hold the creamer in your left hand, wait for a lull in the rolling, quickly let go of the cup and put a spoonful of creamer into the cup with your right hand. You have to be quick before everything starts careening throughout the boat. I promise: practice makes perfect (that includes the practice you get mopping up).
Now taking a shower in swells needs a special technique we patented as the “Three Point Shower Technique”. It derives from the simple observation that a body in space can only be stable if fixed by three points. So in the shower you must stand facing the bow (because the boat rolls sideways) and place both feet as far apart as possible. That is the first two points. The third then is the butt squeezed firmly against one wall. Now you have bot hands free for shampooing etc. To wash a foot you must hold on to something with one hand and voilá you have three fixed points again. Now, when you want to wash your butt……. I think I better leave that to your imagination!
What else:
1) no fish
2) We just passed the half-way mark 20 minutes ago (between Mindelo and St. Lucia that is). That is much further than Monique ever thought she would get (she served delicious chicken fillets with gnocchi tonight and has been baking an apple cake).
Now everything will move faster, since we will be travelling downhill.
3) 4 hours repair to the stove which stopped functioning as a result of atrocious installation work by the Tom Logisch company (this is more of a workshop exercise than a sailing trip). The cake turned out a disaster as a result as well.
better luck (and preferably no repairs) tomorrow.
Klaus
PS we have set our watches to UTC -2 today, so these blogs will tend to come later in future
PPS you can answer to these blogs or send us a message at
[email protected]. Strip your emails of all images, videos or logos. They will be filtered out anyway.
PPS does anyone know what it is like to live without swell?