GORGONZOLA, CRAB AND REINING IN JAKE

Day 8th – July 14th

Last night was uneventful. It started with a clear sky but soon clouds moved
in and once again we sail in darkness. The wind diminished and boat speed
dropped to less than 5 kts at times. The wind was not strong enough to keep
the sails filled and they violently smashed back and forward as Turicum
swung from one side to the other in the Pacific swell. Painful.

Off duty at 2 am, trying to sleep, but the lack of the usual noise from
water rushing by Turicum’s hull and constant flapping of sails resulted in a
restless night. 6 am, on deck again, still dark but there is change in the
air. The wind picked up, hesitant first, but within the hour it blew at 20+
knots and once again Green Meanie pulled Turicum through the water at an
average of 9 kts, every now and then surfing down a wave reaching 14+ kts of
boat speed. Life is good, and after a tense night, the smiles were back on
our faces. On we go.

Today is a big day: Half way point. 1,154 miles to Hawaii. But before we got
there, we changed the spinnaker from Green Meanie to Jake. We were running
deeper and deeper and Green Meanie does not like the wind from that angle so
up went Jake. Jake has broad shoulders, it’s a big sail, and will carry us
for the next little while as we position us for the optimal angle in the
trade winds. The sail change went smoothly, but then we had to change the
topping lift on the pole which snapped earlier. Normally this is an easy
task, but when you are trying to fly a spinnaker, dead down wind, without
the pole in a moderate swell while re-running the topping lift, is a rather
interesting exercise. A couple of times, the spinnaker wanted to wrap itself
around the forestay, but our skilled trimmers managed to keep it flying.
Jake kissed the forestay a few times, trying to wrap his big shoulders
around it but the afterguard would not let it happen and reigned in Jake,
forcing him to keep pulling Turicum through the water.

Pleased with our work, we headed for our bunks, after all, we were already
more than an hour into our resting time. But it was not to be. Another bang,
and Jake managed to wrestle himself free from the pole. Our skipper, not
pleased with the state of affairs, rushed onto the foredeck and grabbed Jake
by his big shoulders. Jake struggled, violently trying to pull himself free,
but he was no match for Gunnar who put the reigns back on Jake and once
again Turicum is under control. The crew was amazed, Gunnar breathless and
on we sailed.

5 miles to half-way point. Too tired and with only two hours to rest before
getting on deck again we went straight our bunks instead of waiting for the
half-way point to come up.

It is a tradition to celebrate the half-way point with a special dinner. Don
was organizing that. Little did we know that Don was not only a superb driver
but quite the chef too. As appetizers we had plums, filled with gorgonzola
and wrapped in prosciutto followed by a cold avocado soup. Delicious. Don
then pulled out fresh crab cakes from the oven and our main course was
lobster tail with risotto. After the main course we had to gybe the
spinnaker and then sat down for desert. First things first, after all we are
racing!

Thank you Don and your family for a fantastic half-way dinner. It could not
have been more delicious!

6 pm , up on deck. It was another black night. The wind picked up and peaked
around 25 knots. Running downwind with the waves tossing Turicum around we
struggled to keep things under control. Depowering the spinnaker helped a
lot and we were not losing much speed. After about an hour of intense
sailing the wind settled down to below 20 knots and we were again fully
trimmed, on course at maximum speed.
I should not forget to mention: We are now sailing in T-shirts at night.
Loving it, every bit!

10 pm – back to our bunks, tired, but pleased with a fun day and good crew
work and steady progress along our course. Good night.

Aloha!