Day 9: Calling an audible on Bermuda
Last night, I learned that while we've sailed almost straight North all the way from Bonaire, we have changed time zones. When Ryan woke me up to take my watch at 3:30, he proudly annouced that he had given me an extra 30 minutes of sleep. My watch is set to start at 4AM, and when I looked at my phone, I realized that he still had half an hour of his own watch to go… and it somehow felt like I had indeed gotten an extra half an hour of sleep.
As I am writing this, it is 8:30AM onboard Polar Seal, but it is 9:30AM in Bermuda, which we are 10 hours away from. With full sails out, we managed to keep sailing at 4 knots through the night. But this morning as the sun popped up on the horizon, the wind completely died and I had to start the engine for an hour and a half.
Trouble is, we are sailing through some patches of seaweed that our propeller keeps catching. So we are back sailing, though only around 3 knots. Ryan is currently getting some rest, and we are planning to hoist our antique gennaker when he wakes up.
We still do not know if we will stay in Bermuda or not.
I took my watch this morning convinced that I would end the day with a burger and a beer, only to find a much better weather forecast and emails from our weather experts indicating that all the lights were green for a continued passage towards the Azores. So who knows, it may end with homemade burgers aboard with some cans of coke instead.
To be really honest, it is hard to drop the idea of a burger and a beer... But for now, we are keeping our course straight towards Bermuda to keep the option open, and will choose staying or continuing very close to the last minute. Stay tune for an extra update later today!