We have “officially” changed our destination to Grenada and now have 1435 miles to go. Not sure exactly how much progress we made today. For those paying attention, I obfuscated the mileage so that we could have our half way cake and ice cream in the afternoon. I was gooood.
We have been flying the spinnaker all day and were on a reach most of the time. We are now sailing dead down wind and the winds are calm at about 10 knots. We expect that to continue for about 48 hours. In these winds we are progressing at a little less than 5kts so only about 120 kmiles per 24 hours so that will delay our arrival if this continues. I’ve decided to ignore the route guidance software that wants us to keep heading down towards the equator and then pop us along the costs Guyana and Venezuela. I know there can be issues there so we’ll basically sail the rumb line to our destination on a heading of about 280 degrees and deal with the light winds.
Our current point of sail is a very peaceful and calm mode of sailing since the sea lies down in these winds and the waves generally run in parallel to our course. When we are sailing at 10 kts there is a beautiful rush of water slip-steaming along the boat that validates the point of sail and choice of boat. At 5 kts it’s more like a babling brook sound along with a soft surf noise that make you wonder if we are really making progress or just bobbing along.
This is good sleeping weather so I took a long nap this afternoon and we didn’t watch any Madmen as has been our daily ritual on this passage.
This morning I found a unusual sense of calm and clarity that is difficult for me. I was playing Solitare on the iPad and listening to Adele for hours. Most of my life I’ve never had the attention span to listen to the words in songs. I really like music but it’s about the melody and sounds rather than the words. I guess it’s related to ADHD but for some reason I just can’t focus on music and get lost in the experience. However today I was able to listen to the words and wow – holy shit. There are all about love and lost love. I told this to Jerri and she informed me that all songs are basically about love. The things I’ve missed having a hyperactive mind.
The other epiphany I had listening to Adele in my moment of focus and clarity is that I have to set some new big harry audacious goals like I’ve done in the past. That doesn’t mean I have to run a company again, but maybe. Did I really just say that! Not that we’re finished sailing but I’ve always been very focused on what’s next and while I plan to continue serving on startup tech boards that’s probably not going to be enough. I joined Ryan at F4 Technologies (Rally) for our third act together while on the tail end of our two year sailing sabbatical on Blue Rhapsody 15 years ago. We’ll shall see.
Finished Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck. There were a bunch of short classic books that got good reviews on Audible so I thought I would finally read/listen to some of the books I read the cliff notes to when I was a child. I read The Pearl by Steinbeck while in Mexico sailing in Baja Mexico where small sailing villages prevailed and I really enjoyed it. Of Mice in Men is set to the backdrop of ranching in the West like our friend Jean’s ranching life. Really touching story – I keep thinking about poor sweet Lenny and the characters that make up the traditional west now and in our past.
Slaughter House-Five by Kurt Vonnegut and read by James Franco is up next.