2/7/12

Noon Position: 47 32' S 78 35' W, SOG 2.5, COG 125, (hove to) Day's
Run 120nm. I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. I feel like the
Southern Ocean is teasing me, warning me, just playing with me. A
stupendous run yesterday (surfing at 7-8 knots with 20-25kts wind from
the NW) was rudely interrupted this morning by the wind shifting
straight West and building to 30-35. The west swell, which had been
present all night, suddenly went from smooth and easygoing to jagged and
lumpy, and I was awakened at 5am by rush of water and an inexorable
sense of being pressed into my bunk, as one of the waves caught Odyssey
just right and spun her out, rolling us further over than I've ever
been. Not a knockdown, by any means, but probably a roll to 50 degrees
or so. I stumbled out of bed and into my foulies and got us headed
downwind to calm things down, then went below for a cup of cocoa to
think things over. I discovered that my feet had been saved from some
serious abuse at the hands of a drill from the starboard seatback
lockers only by the leecloth on the starboard bunk, which fortunately
had held everything back. Normally I keep the storm jib hanked onto the
inner forestay on deck, but I'd had it off yesterday to add some chafing
gear, so I spent the better part of the morning getting it back on
again, getting the mainsail fully lashed down and the halyards to stop
slamming the rig, and sorting out the furling gear (again) When I put
the small jib back up, I apparently didn't quite get the measure on the
furling line right, so I couldn't get the last foot or so to roll up, so
I ventured to the bow again to get things sorted out. kneeling on the
slippery deck, sliding back and forth as the boat rolled down waves
trying to get the sail fully stowed when Odyssey took off on a
tremendous swell, roaring down the face of a wave so fast that I swore
we were going to keep on going straight through the trough and into the
next wave. Clearly, that was not to be countenanced, so I ended up
heaving to for most of the afternoon while things settled down, and now
this evening I'm back underway, chugging to the south at 4.5kts under
storm jib and triple reefed main.