Raritan - 12/4/18 – Day 10 – Halfway!

The day started out beautifully, with sparkling sunshine and a good breeze. We hoisted the spinnaker and made great progress. Late morning, we passed the point which is 1,350 nautical miles from St. Lucia, just about halfway. We’ll make the second half much faster, as we won’t have to sail as far south, and the winds should be more consistent. About the same time, we passed 37.5 degrees West, so we set our clocks back another hour. Those on watch at such times get socked with an extra long watch. The rest of us try to help out.

The breeze built a little too quickly, and we suffered a mild broach with the chute up. Nobody was hurt, but tragically, we broke the glass French press, which was our only remaining method of making coffee. We all vowed to use our best MacGyver skills to somehow keep the precious black liquid flowing each morning.

We spent the afternoon sailing with double reefed main and jib in steadily more unfavorable winds. We knew the wind would fill in from the North the next day, so we continued along. Rob prepared a special halfway meal of beef tenderloin and potatoes, topped with a glass of red wine.

Matt