Bermuda to Groton: Day 7

5:50 am
Beautiful day! Sunny and clear do 6.2 knots on flat (Yeah!) seas on a beat north. The electronic Autopilot held through the night allowing Jay and I to catch up on some much needed sleep. I was out!

We have 2 types of autopilots on board – an electronic “autohelm” that can sail to the wind or to a course and a mechanical wind-vane the sails the wind. The wind-vane is an ingenious piece of engineering developed by a Frenchman.

12:45 pm
Clear, not a cloud in the sky. What a beautiful day beating N at 7 knots this morn, – doing 6 know. Spent most of the morning chatting with Jay – a real pleasant sail. Listened to Steve Ray Vaugh, Duke & Louie.

3:00 pm
Wind shifted to the west – doing 6 knots. Snapped a few pictures. Not much to photograph out here. I thought of taking photos of the foul weather but you need two hands and why risk splitting your head open for a photo of foamy water.
We jury rigged the wind vane with a hose clamp and jury rigged the auto helm with a bottle of turtle wax wedged between the helm post I guessed you . .. ? call it and the autohelm to keep it engaged.

165 miles home – probably get in tomorrow evening 10-12 or so – Yes!

Herb says our wind will crap out tonight – screw it, we’ll motor.

4:30 pm
Eating well today – our appetites are back with the clear skies and flat seas. Noodle and chicken for breakfast a burger for lunch and Jay’s cookin us pork tenderloin with corn & potatoes. At noon today we split the Sam Smith winter Welcome I gave Jay back in Nov. to see him off. Delicious. North of the Gofl celebration. We’ve hardly eaten the past few days. Had a snickers and ½ can of Dinty More Stew yesterday, a cliff bar & apple the day before.

Everything is drying out below. The moon is up and getting full. Should be a beautiful night to keep watch.

Listening to Duke & Satchmo, sound of the water; just beautiful.

Offshore sailing is about the weather. If it weren’t, and it were always sunny, blowing 15 knots with flat seas the ocean would be full of boats.

Jay is a good skipper. Though off-shore sailing has a never ending learning curve he certainly knows what he is doing. He can jury-rig anything, A must for offshore sailing. He is prepared for what ever might be in store.

8:00 pm
I have 1st watch. 2 hr watches tonight. The sun is setting into a cloud in the sky. Doing 5.2 knots. The sounds this evening are not like the cacophony of the past few. They are sweet swooshes and gentle creaks. The movement of the boat is smooth unlike the jarring jerks and bounces of the past couple of days. Jay is asleep. I am peaceful. The phrase so close and yet so far comes to mind this evening. This time tomorrow we ought to be seeing the light off Montauk. The brown boobies are still with us running on the water looking at the lure we set out.

I am starting to stress again about the real world that lay ahead. Why? I have everything – I do look forward to kissing Josa.

When I wake up
I want to wake up next to you
When I am walking
I want to be walking next to you
When I am laughing
I want to laugh next to you
When I am crying
I want to be crying next to you
When I lay down
I want to lay down next to you.

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