Charm - Day 10 - no wind, then wind!

We're pretty much obsessed with the wind at this point. As if we weren't before . . . But being in triple digits of our goal has made it seem as if we're going downhill, especially with days like yesterday with our 24-hr VMG average of 8, a perfectly acceptable speed.

Then this afternoon hit. It was brutal. I can't say there was no wind but it was close. Our VMG was around 2. I think Kent was crying on his shift. It turns out he really likes buoy racing (equivalent of a sprinting for sailors) and really, really doesn't like long, slow passages. So he's not the happiest person on the boat. He did perk up yesterday though when the wind filled in. But the lows feel much lower after the highs.

Even ever-happy Tim said it was "painful" as the main flapped violently and the spinnaker refused to fill.

On the good news side, I sewed the yellow spinnaker, we launched it, and it stayed together. Cobin added some artwork to the patches which may have helped ward off evil spinnaker-destroying spirits. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough wind to justify having it up so old trusty rainbow is flying again.

Tim also brightened our day by taking over the kitchen for two meals that were technically my responsibility. He made a great lentil and quinoa salad for lunch and, for dinner, as he described it, "A piping hot mushroom risotto - the kind of rich, heavy meal everyone wants on a steamy November day!" Regardless of weather-appropriateness, it was delicious.

We are down to a dwindling supply of fresh produce. Tim, our largest consumer of fruits and veggies, and I, the person overseeing the daily menu, have reached an uneasy truce with regard to certain items. I have a stash in the fridge where I'm trying to safeguard the key items for future meals and Tim has moved certain of his favorites into a part of the fruit net that he probably hopes I won't notice. There was a brief skirmish around the grapes today as I reminded Tim that the quinoa salad called for grapes. "I'm not sure it really needs them," he protested. "Well, maybe a few. But not all of them." And so the hoarding continues . . .

It is amazing how things change. I started my watch this evening with VMG around 3. Then the wind started to push up in baby gusts. Now we have a brisk breeze at just the right angle, keeping us comfortably in VMGs of 7.5. We aren't fighting the wind angle to stay south, as we've done before, and it's no longer ridiculously hot. Kent gets to sleep from 9 pm to 6 am, continuously, and Joe actually took a nap today. Tim got in at least 3 workouts and 2 showers, Tully made no less than 6 beaded necklaces, Cobin built a roller coaster out of Knex and Marin sewed a skirt for a doll. The stage is set.

Tomorrow, we may be a Charmed boat once again!