Marshalls to Alaska Day 23: Galloping to the Barn

Looking like I could use some sleep (and a shave)

Greetings,

Fluenta is galloping for Dutch Harbor.

Once the winds veered to the SW in the morning, they stayed steady in the 20-25 kt range all day, which gave us the downwind push along our course. Victoria took the morning watch, which was lovely as it meant both parents could sleep!

The motion of the boat in the downwind swell was powerful. When I looked around as we enjoyed our 500-nm-to-go chips in the afternoon, I was reminded of the big pods of dolphins that we have seen over the years. Numbering in their hundreds, they always have a sense of purpose to them, a sense that they are urgently going where they are going without stopping to play. The waves around us this afternoon had a similar purposeful feel to them, and Fluenta was charging along right in the thick of them, surging to 8 (and sometimes 10) kts as each wave picked us up. It felt like we were part of the movement of the ocean, and that we were all bound for Alaska.

The albatrosses kept us entertained.

While we enjoyed our chips (in a far more bundled up state than some of the earlier milestones!) we talked about what everyone is looking forward to in Alaska. On the top of our lists were bears, sea otters, glaciers, bald eagles, and icebergs (but not too close!). It is hard to believe we will be in that world in a few days.

After I went off-watch, Max and the kids had another science discussion. Given that we were surrounded by fog, they talked about dew points, humidity, why we see our breath, and how hail clouds form. We don't have to look far to find ourselves surrounded by school subjects!

We haven't seen a lot of traffic on our crossing, and most of it has been at quiet a distance, but today we had an AIS contact that, from the time it showed up on our screen (at over 30 nm away), looked like it would come within less than a mile of us (or 8 nm away, depending on how we were rolling). Three hours later when we got closer, Max called the ship to de-conflict our courses and to make sure that we were seen. The watch officer was very polite, acknowledged that he could see us on AIS or RADAR ("Oh, there you are, off my starboard bow") and then told Max that he considered himself to be the stand-on vessel, and would be maintaining his course and speed. Despite the temptation to ask whether he was constrained by draught, not under command, or fishing (the usual reasons a powered vessel would have right of way over a sailboat), in the end we decided that our CPA was such that neither vessel needed to alter course, and it was a non-issue. It just gave us a chuckle to share the story later.

and the ships kept us on our toes.

I spent my night watch, as has become my norm, bundled up in the cockpit. With a hot water bottle in my lap, a heat reflective tarp wrapped around me, and multiple layers of thermals and fleece under my foulies, I was finally comfortable! Johnathan was reading beside me in far fewer layers, so clearly I am the least robust in the cold. The wind was steady in the 23-25 kt range. It was extraordinary to feel the power of the boat and the waves as we surged along our course; we weren't overpowered, we were just strong and fast and steady. Rather than picking up the stern and moving it back and forth the waves were just pushing us along. I found myself fixated on the boat speed: 7 kts, 8 kts, 9 kts (!) 10 kts - yikes - time to reef! Other than reefing the genoa twice, I didn't have to touch the sails or change course. We just charged along in the dark towards our destination.

So here we are, broad reaching, with two reefs in the main and a tiny genoa, surfing down the waves at 8+ kts, and galloping towards Dutch Harbor. We are grateful that Fluenta is a sturdy and solid boat that seems to enjoy these conditions. We will all be glad to arrive, but given the wind strength and sea state, this has been a surprisingly pleasant day.

Love to all,
Elizabeth
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At 2019-07-01 6:10 PM (utc) SV Fluenta's position was 50°47.76'N 169°45.13'W

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