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Sable
Island is out there somewhere! The cold Labrador current
and the warm July air caused fog every night and morning. This
area was called the 'Graveyard Of The Atlantic' for many years. |
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A fishing boat looms out of the fog. You could hear the engines
long before the boat was visible. |
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Jean at the helm for his shift. We had two crew members on duty
at all times in 4 hour shifts. One person watched for ships and
the other person sailed. We switched jobs every hour. |
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Tom is taking his turn at the helm. It was toughest at night
when you couldn't see the waves and you had to steer by 'feel'
and the compass. |
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Jiann getting his foul weather gear on for another shift. We
never got 8 hours sleep! And it was tough resting in 4 hour shifts. |
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However, it wasn't all that bad. Jean is hoisting a cold one
someplace East of Sable Island. And Tom's sleeping bag is drying
in the sun. Only after anything has been wet with salt water,
it never really dries again till it's washed in fresh water.
The darn salt keeps absorbing water from the atmosphere. |
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The radar reflector and our flags are in pretty bad shape and
we've not even been in a storm yet. |
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Just another day at sea. Jean with a firm hand on the tiller
and his son Jiann listening to noise on the CD player. <grin> |
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Jiann sending several e-mail messages to his friends. Our e-mail
link was the only way we had to get weather reports once we'd
sailed out of VHF radio range till we were in range of the French
weather reports for the North Atlantic. |
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The harness and tether made working on the foredeck safe and
secure, even in a gale. Jiann could get another .1 kt from a
sailboat by just touching the lines. |
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Now that I'm back on land, it seems like a dream. Cold salt water
splashing in your face, wind and spray stinging your eyes, and
that clammy feeling from being in salt water 24 hours a day. |
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Tom spends quiet time in his bunk reading. When he was needed
outside, his headlamp made a squiggle as he left the cabin. |
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Jean swimming on a calm afternoon. We were 900 miles from Halifax
and the water is over 20,000 ft deep here! |
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I brought a disposable camera that was waterproof down to 17ft
for swimming and for storms. |
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Halifax is 900 miles behind me, and Lisbon, Portugal is about
900 miles toward the camera. Land isn't too far away tho... the
bottom is only 4 miles or so down. |
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It felt great to get a bath, even if it was in salt water. You
know how bad you feel when you are having a bad hair day? Well,
crossing an ocean is like having a bad hair month! |
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OK, I don't want to hear a single 'Whale Watching' joke! I loved
swimming around the boat way out in the middle of the ocean. |
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Tom also took time to get in the water and scrub those hard to
get at places. |
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Jiann didn't go swimming, but he polished the spreaders while
we swam. At least he didn't toss out sardines to attract big
fish... |
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I fixed Country Ham for dinner. Old time sailors took salt port
and salt beef to see because they didn't need an icebox to keep
them from spoiling. |
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Stew is much better with chunks of ham. Only problem was keeping
enough cooked to put in the stew. Everybody kept eating the ham
as fast as I could fry it. |
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Hal at the helm. Thanks Jiann for taking some photos of me, or
I wouldn't even be in the webpage. |
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Jiann is finishing off his kool-aid. I promised his mother, I'd
make him eat and drink enough, so I kept cool-aid prepared for
him. |
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More pictures from the
voyage to Horta, including the STORM! |
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