Day 5: Illusions

Yesterday Jordan had a hard time getting caught up on sleep which was unusual as he can generally fall asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow. Dog-tired in the wee hours of the morning, we stopped to bring in sails for lack of wind. It was then we found ourselves enveloped in clouds right to the sea surface. With no reference and the boat meandering, Jordan got disoriented and in his tired state thought the compass wasn't working. Starting the motor, he realized that it was the same conditions some pilots fatally find themselves in while flying in obscure conditions and their plane gets totally out of control. So rather than have me take over a shift and continuing, he decided to turn off the motor and drift again so we could both sleep.

After drifting 3 nautical miles, we awoke to pouring rain at daybreak and immediately motored away. Shortly thereafter, the clouds quickly dissipated and we were under sunny skies and sailing with a light breeze.

Around 11:00, the winds died and it started to pour again. Sails were taken down and the motor started. Weirdly enough, the seas had become confused with choppy short waves that we were bashing into to try to make it through a dense cloud band. As we came out the other side, we saw where the waves were coming from. It was really windy there.

When the wind kicked up again, Jordan continued to practice balancing the boat and sails. Especially now that we are without an autopilot. Very basically, balancing sails means to adjust the sails perfectly so that the boat stays on course relative to the wind without constantly manning the helm.

Dolphins and 3 pilot whales came around Sea Turtle today. And so far, we've seen only 3 freighters in total but no pleasure or fishing boats.

Today's position around midnight: N02°57'17" W078°27'00"