Headsail Trimming in the Dark

On night watch, you will inevitably have to trim a headsail in total darkness. The moon has either not risen or is new, offering no illumination on the matter at hand. Stars, while bright and beautiful, will not grant you vision of your headsails either.

You could shine a flashlight at the sail, but this will only destroy your night vision making the remainder of the process even harder.

So how do you trim a headsail in the dark? By feel.

If the headsail is too eased, it will flutter and that fluttering can be felt in the sheet as it approaches the winch. Simply ease the sail until you feel it start to flutter, then winch it in until this damaging vibration ceases. At this point, the sail is trimmed in as little as possible so you don't risk being over-trimmed either.

Next time you can't see your sail, simply touch the sheet and let your fingers see for you.

Bioluminescence

On passage from Bermuda to the Azores, we had a very pleasant surprise. The winds were strong and consistent, carrying us along at a steady 5-6 knots all day and all night. At night, this speed provided yet another splendor.

The wave action of the bow wave as well as waves breaking around is glow with the light of billions of tiny dynoflagela. These little bacteriums are responsible for the bioluminescence in the oceans waters and they can turn an ordinary night watch into a psychedelic light show!

Night watch may seem rather dull and pointless when out in the middle of the ocean where the last boat you saw was three days ago; but when every wave lights up in a mystic green hue, night watch becomes something to look forward to!

The Importance of Units

When cruising, you will frequently encounter countries that use imperial or metric units. These units are very important!

We started our journey in the United States, where fuel is sold by the gallon. Fuel prices when we left were around $3-4 per gallon. Our next stop was in the Bahamas where fuel prices were more expensive, ranging $4-7 per gallon. Our last port before heading to Bermuda sold fuel for $5.40 per gallon.

We use fuel to power the generator to keep our fridge running should cloudy, windless days persist and run down our house battery bank. Keeping our food refrigerated and frozen is worth buying 10 gallons of gasoline!

I was relieved when we arrived in Bermuda and found gasoline to be sold for $2.19! Being a former British colony, I assumed that they would also use the gallon. Our next stop when we leave Bermuda is the Azores, about 1800 miles away! So we decided to purchase an extra 5 gallon (20L) jerry can.

Bermuda is famously expensive, but nowhere near as expensive as people had led us to believe. We could still eat out and have a wonderful meal for about the same prices as stateside dining. I think the real kicker comes when cruisers tank up before leaving. This is usually their last purchase in Bermuda and therefore the one that is freshest in their mind when they reach home.

The fuel we bought was $2.19 per liter. At 3.8L per gallon, this meant that fuel here was $8.32 per gallon!

Our meager purchase of 15 gallons and a jerry can was $150! Yeah.

Now I understand how people can complain about prices when they need to buy hundreds of gallons of fuel to get home.

The moral of the story is: pay attention to the units because it can radically affect your experience.

Waiting

Sailing to Bermuda has been a relatively easy sail in the grand scheme of things. We have had light airs, steady airs, and a little bit of heavy airs, but they have had a steady direction in all cases. For the past two days we have been flying the staysail and double reeder mainsail as we bear to windward.

The monitor windvane has been steering us religiously as close to the wind as we can point while the sails power us along.

It just feels like this tiny island is so close yet so far as we sit here with only waves on the horizon. The sun comes up, the sun goes down, and only waves are in view.

We currently have only 70 miles left to the harbor in Bermuda, but it still feels like forever! All of us on board are planning what we want to eat when we get on shore, but the truth is we only see water as we continue to wait.

Waiting, the most common activity on a blue water passage.

We are in the Azores!

After a long crossing from Bermuda, we made landfall in Horta, Azores. 

We are very proud of our accomplishment and excited to explore this beautiful island.  

If you are in this area, please let us know!