300 nautical miles

Up and started preparing for the passage. I made food that we could easily accessed without cooking as the winds were going to be significant. We got the dinghy hoisted and we were off the hook by 9:45. We headed west as I misunderstood Chris Parker’s forecast numbers to be the bearing, not the wind angle…. But Brian corrected course.
We cut the engine around 10:30 and were under sail all day. The water is beautiful, the winds are strong, the conversations delightful…. And my sailing gear - a tank top and underwear.
We had gnocchi for supper and afterwards, around 7pm Brian announced he was going to sleep. He dozed on and off while I wrote and thought. It is hard to read as the sea state has picked up to 4-6ft swells, the wind in 17-20knots but forecasted to pick up during the night, and our speed is 6.5-7knots, on a heading of nearly due North (005).
A boat / cargo ship passed us and came within 2nm during the night on my shift. It set off the alarm, and made me nervous. I didn’t catch much sleep and was happy when daylight arrived!Read more