Sailing Trip With Bub Morgan
July 15
Loved ones – For the first time in 2 days the sun has just come out! Board shorts and hot showers are underway. The shower’s are a little tricky at 45 degrees and 8 ft seas, but much better than the alternative!! My turn just came up. It’s reported that the ass prints on the bulkhead of the shower tell it all!! Thank god for our water maker!! We’re just coming up on our first 48 hours and expect to put 350 nautical miles under our keel. Making great time considering that the first half is “generally” expected to be the slower half of the race. A little sea sickness, a shiner from a salon cart wheel and a blown main sheet traveler are our only casualties to-date. What happens on Exit Strategy stays on Exit Strategy!! All of the wind/sail optimization computer models that we are running on ES suggest that we run on a line that will put us 240 miles above (North) of the actual Rhumb Line another 1,000 miles down course. That’s why you’ve probably noticed that it appears we are running a little north of course. We’ve decided to basically split the difference in the hope that the wind will still be strong further south as we approach paradise. To Deb and all the ladies – we are eating like kings!! Thanks so much for all the terrific grinds!
More to follow…
El Captain
It’s Wed night and we finally have some smoother seas and still good wind – 14=17kts. So we are moving along. Today’s race position report has us in 7th place overall today. 2 boats dropped out yesterday – one was losing its keel! The first 2 days were winds of 18=25kts and 10 to 12′ seas so it was pretty miserable especially for the 2 guys that were seasick. I’m still in my foul weather gear, but soon we will be done with it. It’s been tough to eat but we did get some hot food today instead of snack bars and pretzels, etc. Anyway, all is well and today was a great sail. I am known now as Dr. Speed, having consistently clocked the highest speeds when driving at the helm. Say hi to all. Hopefully, we’ll settle into more of a routine once we reach the trade winds in another day or two.
Beautiful Site and Photos Dick! I love reading about your travels. Please keep updating us with your latest stories! 😊