Day 8: Tread winds
What I find amazing during this journey is that every day is completely different from the earlier ones.
Today was a very fast day in the trade winds (title is a pun) with the spinnaker all out. We covered a lot of grounds in the last 30 hours averaging close to 8 knots if not more. A few hours ago, we crossed the half course, which is cause for celebration. We have foie gras on board and we shall see whether this is a sufficiently good occasion `to cork’ it.
It all started last night. Seb F and I had a blast during our shift from 1:30 to 4 AM. There were strong shifting winds and the asym kite was up. Helming such a thing requires an intense focus, and surprisingly, quite a bit of energy. But it was exhilarating driving Ruby down or across waves at high speed surrounded by darkness.
Of course, 30 hours of spinnaker does not go without some troubles as I have made clear earlier. Today, the spliced eye on our guy broke. This means taking the chute down, repairing and relaunching. The trouble this time is that we lost both our stoppers and we have to make new ones with whatever we find on board. This time, the stopper is made of a frictionless ring covered with rubber I extracted from a bike tube! Crazy!
I write that everyday is different. Besides sustained speed and blue waters, we now encountered squalls. We encounter them during the night and during the day. Squalls are dark clouds that push the wind ahead as they move. When you encounter the head of a squall the winds suddenly pick up and things are a bit more challenging — especially during night time. Also, you can encounter pouring rain as happened today. For a minute, it felts we were off the coast of Brittany.
I try to continue to learn how to manage the boat and helm. I hope I am making progress and that I will return as a better sailor.
You could say that we have now settled into a sort of rythm. Since you’re reading this blog, you must deduce that we have internet access and we do. We do have Starlink but we put it on about twice a day. Not more. I call this ‘L’heure des mamans’ and this is for my mommy. When I was a kid in pre-school we were in class from 8:30 to 11:30 and from 1:30-4:30. I was picked up by my mommy at 11:30 and 4:30 and this time was called “L’heure des mamans”. Turning on the wifi feels the same as we connect with family and friends. So now on board, people ask: when is l’heure des mamans?
As you can see from this blog, the crew lives well. You do not need to take my word for it. Seb F is our supreme leader’s cousin and we did not know him before leaving. Seb is also my shift mate so I have gotten to him well. It’s high time to invite people to this blog so Dear Reader, I will leave you tonight with some (unedited) words from Seb.
Aristotle once published on his blog that there are three sorts of people, those who are alive, those who are dead and those who are at sea. The pessimistic conclusion would be that the sailor’s are looking for troubles. Sailing on Ruby during this Transpac is a much brighter option to understand what the Greek philosopher had in mind. I have been invited by Bertrand, my beloved wife’s cousin, to join the French Silicon Valley crew for this fantastic race. I know Bertrand well, but it requires a strong mutual trust to welcome a newcomer for a two weeks race, without any minute spent together before in a moving, humid and ridiculously small apartment. Emmanuel, Olivier, Frederic and Seb made that choice and I cherish their decision every minute. The mood on Ruby is exceptional, I rarely experienced such a positive spirit on every aspects of our days and nights at sea. After eight days of racing, the smiles and laughter set the pace onboard, everyone takes care about each other all the time and the sailing is a great mix of safety, coolness and performance. Talking about the food and wine standards would be too much, I let you imagine.
Merci messieurs for the invitation, I wish us a fantastic second leg.
Seb F. , the frenchy from France