Salty Dawg Rally Day 8

I just spent the last 2 hours slowing the boat down by pulling most of the sails down and heaving to. Chris Parker, the renowned weather guru sent me an email. He explained that by slowing right down, I should be able to sail to the BVI but if I kept going I will get stuck in Puerto Rico because of the direction of the wind.

Up at midnight to check on everything and all seems to be well. I am slowly drifting south at 2 knots which should keep me between 25N and 26N Monday.

The idea of staying between these latitudes is that the wind there on Tuesday will allow me to sail to BVI. Will take another look tomorrow.

Many people like to describe "heaving to" as an oasis. A picnic on a white sandy beach. It is not. You are in the soup. Ok it is a lot better but it is noisy.

Winds have reduced considerably down to 20 knots but waves are confused albeit lower. Today I am going to relax, do some cleaning & wait until the winds change.

Decisions, decisions. What to do. The problem is that the wind is going to clock and I don't want to go to Puerto Rico. So now I'm aiming as east as possible.

I am still glad I took the more westerly course compared to all the others. And that is because they got hammered pretty hard compared to my one day yesterday.

The first clue that something was amiss was that my reef points were squeaky. The 2nd was my reefing line was on my foredeck. You guessed it....it chafed thru.

Winds out of the north at 20 knots, sailing due east at 6 knots with a reef in the main, my staysail and my smaller genoa. I've been on port tack all this trip.

I went out on my foredeck to take some GoPro shots because it is a gorgeous day & the boat is smoking, and had a wave drench me. I won't be needing a shower today.

So tired of reading and feeling like a bit of activity, I stuck my fishing line out for hour. I'm glad I didn't catch anything because it would be too much.

I have had hallucinations in the past from sleep deprivation which can be so unsettling so on this trip I have been getting lots of rest.

I am trying to figure out what to eat tonight. I have a yearning for pumpkin and I have a zucchini that I need to eat. Where is the internet when I need it?

"Are we there yet?" Ok I am so ready to get to where I am going, lowering my sails and sleeping for a week in a boat that doesn't feel like a washing machine.

Cooking on a lurching boat can be a little challenging. I just cut up an onion and garlic and it all turned into a projectile landing on the galley sole.