Not quite… Anticipation abounds

It’s a hot day! Partially because the wind is pretty mellow. I keep my eyes trained on the horizon, or look up between chapters of my book, hoping to spot the crest of the island of Barbuda.

The horizon just SW of us is hazy and flat with clouds, puffing at the top like muffins out of a tin. If I look at it long enough, I trick myself into seeing the dark shape of a mountain or the contour of a low hill. But alas, sunset is fast approaching and we have yet to spot it. It may be that we go to sleep tonight with an empty horizon and wake up tomorrow morning with islands all around. Sad to miss the initial Land Ho! But also, what a cool magic trick. It’s like falling asleep on a road trip and waking up arriving somewhere entirely new. Time passes, you’ve arrived, and you didn’t have to do a thing.

We played around with the sails a bit today, trying to eke out every bit of speed we could from Nam Thanh. More practice putting up the gennaker, then more practice undoing the giant knot it tied itself into. Eventually we put up the code zero and in an effort to decrease our sailing distance, set our sails up wing and wing and headed on a course that took us straight downwind - something we haven’t been able to do so far. Big sees make this set up difficult, because the swell changes the angle of the boat too drastically with each wave. It’s beautiful seeing these two big sails fly together, one on either side of the mast. You can see where the rig name comes from - two giant gray wings gliding through the air, pulling us West.

The seas have been fairly calm and following our stern. Surfing down the waves is one of my favorite feelings and sounds while sailing. It is so satisfying to feel the boat pick up in speed, so smoothly, and with the rush of a building wake to match.

For lunch, we cut open a watermelon we’ve been saving. Sooooooo refreshing, even though not quite as sweet as we would have hoped. The milk is almost all gone, so morning granola has been experimental: watered-down milk, water, dry, and guava juice are the current attempts at making do. We’re having some sort of rice dish for dinner that we’ve only slightly flushed out. Technically we could be changing time zones now, falling back an hour, but we’re so close to St Martin we’ll just wait until we arrive.

Last night, on night watch, I spent some time sitting and looking at the sky, taking a mental image of its dark beauty. Today, I spent some time reveling in the clouds, their grandeur and magnitude. Sorry, Big Sky Montana, you’ve got nothing on the sky out here in the middle of the ocean.

Planning for landfall: immigration, marina, and boat cleaning. Considering activities: snorkeling, scuba diving (Jan, I am unfortunately not yet certified), scooter rental, or a rainforest hike. Most of all, we’re very much looking forward to a big meal containing lots of fresh vegetables and fruit.

It feels as though land is hiding, just beyond what I can see as a crane my neck from the foredeck. It feels as though any moment, it’ll catch my eye. The only way to get there is by sailing onward, and so we shall.

E