The winds have arrived!
If someone tries to fear-monger you into getting a giant and expensive diesel motor for your sailboat because they tell you that you will "DIE” in the doldrums from running out of food or water, don’t listen to them.
Sailboats have made their way through the doldrums for millennia without a diesel motor. All you need are the right kind of sails! We have nylon (spinnaker material) sails for just this purpose. We have a drifter and a light air mainsail which give us a full suit of sails for these windless regions of the world.
The best way to get out of the doldrums is to sail straight through them in the Gulf Stream. The current will keep pushing you along and you will make it through this region in about a day.
If you are like us and wandered too far from the stream, you are going to spend some more time in this region of the Earth. We spent a grand total of 4 days crossing the doldrums. Once we were on the Northern border of it, the Westerlies (winds that consistently blow from the West) popped up and began carrying us along.
We were going downwind, and the mainsail kept fighting the windvane with weather helm. It also stole clean air from the jib, making it really annoying to us.
With the sail lowered all the way, the boom would shimmy and scoot around, making a really annoying noise and chaffing on the canopy.
Our solution was to lower the topping lift and let the boom rest on the bimini. The friction of the boom on the rails held everything still and made for some peaceful times in the cockpit. The jib filled with clean air and produced lee helm that the windvane loved for our course.
To make this moment even more special, we got a great sunset to match our moods as night befell us!
We were once again on the move!
