The morning light showed us a sad sight on the dock next to us - a huge beautiful wooden sailboat had apparently sunk at the docks next to us. It actually happened the night before we arrived. Jack explained the rescue process to me - first they pump out the water from the boat with a giant pump. Assuming that they can pump it out faster than it's leaking in, they then send in a diver to find where the leak is happening, and then they will patch the leak. This is a picture of the rescue crew pumping the water out.Today I learned a new appreciation for heavy winds and waves. The winds averaged about 25 knots today, frequently going to 30 and sometimes gusting as high as 37 knots. Joan was steering as we left Deltaville, and we were going straight against the waves. Razzmatazz was slamming down into the troughs of 5 foot waves - this picture shows one of the hits she took, by no means the worst.
After we got out past the harbor bouys, I took over on the helm and we turned right to go perpendicular to the waves. This reduced the beating we were taking from the 4-5 foot waves, but it was also much scarier when the occasional 6 foot wave rolled us sideways. I learned to look out for the big waves coming in and turn into them so that we hit them headfirst, which was pounding but not nearly as scary.
After an hour or so of that, we made another right turn to head towards Gloucester. At that point, we were running straight down from the wind and waves, and although the wind and waves were just as strong, it was a completely different experience - instead of getting rolled or pounded, we were essentially surfing on the huge waves. In fact, Jack dug up some Beach Boys music on his iPod and put that on the boat's speakers. It was a wonderful, amazing experience to guide the boat down the wave and feel the power surging behind us. I handed the helm over to Jack and went up on the bow to take some pictures, as you can see here.We arrived in Gloucester without any problems, and the weather is gorgeous here. The wind is still blowing hard, but it's been sunny and clear, and the waves are minimal in the sheltered creek where we're docked. Joan has dinner ready, so I'm signing off for now!
3 comments:
This is really fun to follow along on! Thanks for such well-written descriptions of your adventures. How's the finger? Love, Mom
Avast, Nice Hat! I love reading these too, any pirate sightings?
Thanks for keeping us updated. Sound like a lot of fun.
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