Sunny day to begin with on Nikitoo. Spirits were up, and we were headed for what we hoped would be a day of outrunning the cold front. Others that had left a day earlier from Hampton, VA took a direct rhumb line to Antigua, and they are getting squalls.
I slept well after my 0030-0300 shift, and I didn’t come back up to the cockpit until 1000! It was well-needed rest. It also helped to see partly cloudy but blue skies against a rising sun. It was going to be a “shorts and shades day” aboard Nikitoo.
The morning crew had some sails up to keep the boat balanced. The Captain prepped for broad reaching by setting up the preventer system. But to be honest, that didn’t have a lasting effect as the wind was changing and we had the preventer on the wrong side of the boat.
After a quick look at the wind forecast, we prepped for a poled out genoa at around 1pm. This was a big undertaking, as Nikitoo has only 2x 77 winches and 2x 58 winches in the cockpit.
The goal was: 1) main on a preventer, 2) genoa poled out (wing-on-wing), and 3) a staysail sheeted in tight. That means we have more than 6 lines that need to be secured on a winch. We now call it the “spider web”.
Getting the pole out and thinking through what lines had to go over which lines on the deck took some time. I got out on the deck with the Captain and we sorted it all out. Nikitoo has a continuous winch for the pole car on the track, which I found much more helpful working at the mast as opposed to our single Lewmar 8 winch. This whole effort took probably an hour with setting several friction rings on stanchions and re-running lines.
Once we climbed back into the cockpit, we pulled out the sails and set a deep broad reach course. In the middle of all of this, I remember having a conversation with the Captain about how to set up wing-on-wing so that the wind force is on the main instead of on the genoa. I thought the best practice is to avoid sailing by-the-lee.
Nevertheless, it was a huge accomplishment, and we were so proud of ourselves. We took selfies and sent pictures to the Whatsapp chat group. Life couldn’t be better; even the Captain seemed care-free and and began to whistle (a noted superstition aboard Nikitoo).
That lasted all of 30 minutes before the wind picked up significantly from behind and all around us. Each of us took turns hand steering. The wind grew slowly 22 knots, 25 knots, 30 knots and so forth. By the time the 3rd crewmember took their chance to handsteer, the waves grew to 2m or larger.
I noticed the boom preventer seemed a little loose. As I was saying this out loud, we instantly jibed. The boom, which must be 8m long, swung all the way to the center of the boat. I immediately began ripping in the mainsheet to avoid a forced jibe back to the set position abeam. It got hectic quickly at the helm. We all took roles to furl in all sails, turn on the motor, and set a proper course following the waves. NO PICTURES!
So we rode the waves with bare poles that remained in the wing-on-wing configuration. This would be our running course for the next 15+ hours. Through the night, the wind waves + swell appeared to be larger than 3m with some waves closer to 4m. Slight adjustments of the bearing kept the transom parallel with the oncoming mountainous waves. It was a rocky night as there were plenthy of rogue waves that pushed the stern sideways.
One of the unexpected moments last night came from a sparrow that decided to hitch a ride with us. It is amazing that it could fly this far out from the shore.
We have gone about 537 nm in 72 hours, and we are making decent progress.
The Loxodograph 