Roll. Slam! Roll. Slam!
We left Charleston with a favorable current and raised sail in the harbor. It was gustier than the forecast called for, but it was generally beautiful sailing. (Jack strongly disagreed.) We reached the harbor entrance just after the Charleston Race Week pursuit race start, and we joked that we can now say we’ve been part of Charleston Race Week as we caught up to the back of the fleet. (Sincere apologies to the boats we rolled – we tried to stay as clear of your air as possible, but the channel’s only so wide). It was cool to get to watch some of the racing, but we were sad to miss our HYC friends on Deviation, Albondigas and Whirlwind competing on the J/88 circle.
Unfortunately the wind faded through the morning, leaving us with 2′-3′ waves on the quarter that stayed with us for the remainder of our trip. We tried rigging a preventer, but that only did so much, and since we couldn’t pole out the jib, it just collapsed on each roll and snapped back as it filled over and over again. Roll. Slam! Roll. Slam! for 24+ hours. Every Slam! made me cringe – it was like the rig and sails screaming “make it stop!”.
Now, I won’t say it was a BAD experience, but it also wasn’t fun. Despite the uncomfortable motion, I was pretty much fine until I tried to cook dinner… that made me queasy. But I went on watch early and that took care of it. Sleeping was questionable – I doubt I slept an hour in my first off watch with all the noise. I slept for a couple hours when I went below around 5am, which I consider a win.
I also won’t pretend it wasn’t without its moments – the night sky was pitch black, the Milky Way was as clear as I’ve ever seen it, and there were a few shooting stars. The bioluminescence wasn’t as intense as it was just outside the Gulf Stream, but it was still there. Even though the sailing wasn’t great (I had to start up the engine towards the end of my late watch as the wind continued to go right and get lighter, making it almost impossible to keep the sails filled without heading away from our destination), it was still nice to make so much distance under sail. I’m a bit of a Goldilocks sailor – I don’t want too much wind, nor do I want too little – but I’m trying to learn patience in the light stuff and calm and focus in the heavier stuff. So while this wasn’t my favorite passage, that’s ok – even when you’re doing something you love, there will be moments that are less than ideal.
