Air Power - Log day 8

Day 8-Nov 12th.

The winds have certainly picked up for us. We are now starting to make up for lost time. We are on somewhat of a port beam reach or close reach. This means the wind is coming across the left side of the boat, just a little forward of the mast. The wind is out of the NE, but we want to go SE. Of course with the wind, the waves have picked up considerably. They usually travel the same direction as the wind, or somewhere within 45 degrees of it. As it is approaching dark, we feel like we are a carnival ride. You know, the kind that made you sorry you ate all that deep fried food, before getting on.

Up until this evening, the sailing was so great, it just made us want to blast that song "Come Sail Away With Me" by Styx, on the stereo. I was thinking how great it would be to hear, but the best I could do was try to humm as much of it as I could remember. It is a pitty I can't past the refrain. Our SSB radio is more than capable of picking up AM radio stations along the east coast. Unfortunately, no music. All that you can receive are either sporting events, or those blow hard radio talk personalities. Out of desperation, I tune them in occasionally. All they pretty much do is endorse products all through their shows. Constant commercials Rarely, do they talk about anything of substance. If they are not pushing toilet paper to garden hoses, you generally get a rhetorical question followed by pause, pause, pause. Wow the dramatic effect. Does that ever drive home their point? I see it now, there is a conspiracy which we just uncovered. I miss Late Night with Larry King. He was guaranteed to keep you awake, as you drove along Hwy 50, through Nevada at 2:00 am. (America's loneliest highway). Usually, I would stop at a local 7-11 for a nice refreshing Coca-Cola, with 1/3 less calories. Get them while they last.

Due to these bouncing seas, I was all willing to forego a hot meal this evening. Peanut butter and jelly would have been just fine. Jill just loves cooking in the galley and enjoying the fruits of our provisioning. Before we bought tons of steaks, chicken, bratwursts, etc at the commissary, we picked up one of those food savors that sucks all the air out of the pouch. So, we broke down the packages of 8 chicken breasts and froze each one separately. Just removing the air will prolong the freshness of most foods. I suppose we could have saved our money, and just used our portable, 12 volt rechargeable vacuum cleaner. I'm sure that is where the idea came from anyways. I remember back in the mid-80's, a door-to-door vacuum salesman stopped at our house on Kirtland AFB. He was pushing a $1300 Tri-Star vacuum cleaner. It sucked everything including leaves. Very impressive. We had just bought a $200 Eureka cleaner from the BX within the last couple of months. Since I couldn't get rid of the guy, and I was having a few beers on this Saturday afternoon, I started comparing my vacuum to his. Has a headlight to see under the couch, check. So he pulls one of the cushions off our couch and puts it in a plastic bag and sucks all the air out. Completely flattens the cushion. Our cleaner, wasn't quite that strong, but did a pretty good job itself. It probably took a day or two for the cushion to regain it's shape. Thinking back on this, I got the brainy idea, to put a single hotdog and bun in one of those food savor bags and suck the air out. Made that hotdog bun look like a cigarette. Then froze it. The thought was, when we are ready to cook it, the bun would reinflate just like that couch cushion did 30 years ago. Um, not so much. I guess we won't try to vacuum pack any of those Cheetos to make more space.

Back to oue carnival ride that is currently the sea condition--we are so glad we came across the Atlantic last year with a delivery crew so we knew what our boat could handle. The bumps, grinds, creaks, bangs etc as well as the waves crashing over the bows and sides do little to bother us--just ensures we keep that core work out going! We also really appreciate our full enclosure and the double helm seat that keeps us safe and tucked in as we go on this ride.

Only 529 mile to go.

That is all news from Air Power for today.--Dave & Jill