53.3° to 55°: Departure for the Crossing

No surprises today. Wind as expected, the sea state as ugly as anticipated, nothing broke.

Weighing the anchor in 25 knots single-handed is not as straight forward as one might think. As soon as the load of the boat is off the bridle, the triangular rope that attaches from both port and starbord bows to the chain, the boat becomes unstable and starts going left and right at angles so steep that the chain may collide with a hull and and wreak havoc. Also there is a lot of pressure on the chain and it is not a given that the anchor windlass can work against this. I try a few things with the engines and autopilot without success. So just the windlass. 40 meters of chain retrieved, anchor secured, all good.

The motor out of my little harbor bay is smooth, I raise the main into its 2nd reef and set the staysail while still protected by the islands. Immediately the boat accelerates to 8 knots. On the horizon I see the first enormous iceberg. A particularly big one. Must be standing 50 meters tall and probably already grounded even though it is far off shore.

The niceties end when we reach open water: 2-meter waves on the nose as advertised. The movement is wild and the previously clean boat now get salt sprayed all over. I cook up some oyakodon to set a foundation in my belly. The first couple of hours I have to hold it together. My body needs time to adapt to the movement. On a scale from 1 to 10, we are at a 6: can’t stand free and still but things largely stay put.Read more