31-10-2011

After the heavy weather Mother Nature threw at me for several days, it now looks like she feels that she has to make amends… So today I have perfect sailing weather. The waves are smaller and the wind has decreased a lot. Last night it weakened so much that I became worried that it might fade out completely. That and the still very high swell would have made for a very distasteful situation. But luckily after a short recess it picked up again. With the mainsail fully hoisted and the poled out genoa Guppy is rushing ahead at 6 knots – the kind of speed I am used to from her but which is not easy to get in this ocean… The sun is shining and there is some ship traffic around here. Last night I spotted a ship, naja, its lights only, as the Echomax [radar system] kept beeping showing me that there was a ship inside its range. This morning I suddenly felt the urge for a general cleaning which was much needed after the rough weather of the past few days and that has turned the whole boat into a salty and dirty chaos with a big pile of dishes waiting for me included… Now Guppy is somewhat inhabitable. Obviously the ants that have kept out of sight for some days think so too for they came crawling out of hiding from every holes and cracks imaginable. But once they walk in my sight it is the last thing they do. I don’t think that there are more or less than before. I find them in the most unusual places, like on my computer keyboard or on my maps… Argh! Anyway they are not too troublesome and actually I like them better than the cockroaches..

Laura