BoatBanter.com - Flying Pig - Maine Passage

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Day 1 - Maine Passage

We left in a drizzle early Monday evening, on the outgoing tide,
from Fernandina Beach. An hour later, we'd turned off the engine
and commence sailing, for real. While under way, we had a
chicken breast cut up in a salad. Not by design, we're sort of
dieting on this trip, and while calorically lean, it was still
delicious!

Our sail plan, despite the very light winds forecast, was a
single reef in the mainsail, and the genoa out completely. Our
main has three reefs, all very deep. The first takes out about
three feet of the bottom, a significant reduction, so even if we
were to experience a lot of wind, we'd be able to comfortably
sail with no adjustments.

However, NOAA got it right, and we ghosted along under a south
wind. I went down for a nap at 10 as Lydia stood her first
watch. By 2, when she came to get me, it was up to 15 knots with
brilliantly clear skies, and we were moving along very nicely in
10-15 knots, making good 83 degrees, just about perfect for our
plan.

By 4, however, the wind had dropped to 6-10 knots, and we were
rolling quite a bit due to the swell, so I turned south a bit to
stabilize the boat with more pressure on the sails, even though it was
a bit out of
our way to do so. I finally gave up and dropped the sails altogether
at 8AM, still
15 miles from the western edge of the Gulf Stream. Lydia relieved me
for a while,
and I went below for more sleep.

That's honoring our plan to never turn on the engine unless
absolutely necessary, and that every time someone goes off watch
they go to bed, whether they can sleep or not. That assures the
most amount of rest possible. Lydia came to wake me again at 11,
saying that the wind had finally picked up to where it was 8-9
most of the time; out come the sails again!

However, as we were not yet in the Gulf Stream, we potted along at 4
knots or less,
still rocking and rolling, but not so badly. Fortunately, our
attention was
diverted when, at 2:30, I landed and filleted a 36" lady Dorado. I
turned the boat
south, again, to stiffen it up, as filleting on a rolling platform
made for concern
with sharp knives!

Despite that being three meals for the two of us, I threw out the hook
again and
nearly immediately brought in a 36" King Mackerel, immediately
filleting it, too.
Lydia went below with both to apply the marinades... Fresh fish
tonight!

Between 4 and 6, we crossed the outer boundary of the Gulf Stream
simultaneously
with a slight pickup in the wind, as well as more calm waters. So,
for the last
couple of hours, we've been very comfortably (little rolling) making 7
knots with
only 7 knots of wind, and our course over ground - high 40s - is over
40 degrees
less than the angle we're sailing.

Good thing, too, because if we had to sail the wind, it would be
directly behind us,
and very light. That's not quite good enough to keep us in the path
in the middle
of the Stream, but since we're not there yet, anyway, it's fine. We
love the
progress, and the lift provided. For a long while, we may get as much
as 4 knots of
assistance from the Gulf Stream as we head north.

So, smacking our lips over the marvelous Mahi-Mahi over salad we had,
we'll close
for tonight. We're presuming our SPOT is sending out our "OK"
messages as well as
keeping a lovely track as we go...

L8R

Skip, Lydia and Portia

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig KI4MPC
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