April 8, 2011

The Weather is Here

 It almost seems anticlimactic. We rushed and rushed to get ready, then the weather refused to cooperate—in a big way. But over the over the next day, or so, the winds will fill back in and a flotilla of 8-10 boats will be pulling out of La Cruz.
And we’ll be one of them!

A few people asked how it is possible for a bad weather report to factor into a 2700-mile (18-24 day) journey. The issue is most boats only carry a few hundred miles of fuel. The strategy tends to be to save fuel for the ITC zone, emergencies and arrivals—so having a 300 mile region of no wind right at the beginning, coupled with unusually light and fluky trade winds is a recipe for a very long, very uncomfortable journey…

So we waited.

Waiting is a tough thing to do when you’re staring at a long intimidating journey. Sometimes you need the adrenaline and excitement just to carry you through the natural anxiety. But yesterday I noticed my apprehension had grown, my excitement had peaked and I just felt tired and grumpy. I didn’t really care if we went anywhere. I just wanted the uncertainty to end.

But after a good nights sleep I’m ready for the adventure again.
The weather is here—I think it’ll be a beautiful passage.

PS—if you haven’t been reading my friend Monica’s blog THEY ARRIVED!! Check out Savannah’s blog for her (very amusing) perspective.

1 comment:

boatbaby said...

Wish you were beautiful (sorry, just the JB tune stuck in my head every time I read that) So happy you got your window -- now GO!