Into the cold Atlantic night

31 March 0900 | 130 nm NW of Bermuda

We’ve had a pretty rough 24 hours. As expected we headed into gale force winds but instead of the forecast 10 hours they kept blowing a full night and day. Very little sleeping and a lot of vomiting. Many of the guests kept to their bunks. In these conditions it’s all mind games. Naturally one thinks: ‘why am I here?’ and ‘How can I endure this for ten more days?’ But those questions are impossible to answer and frankly pointless (as if one has choice). The real question is: ‘Can I endure this for four more hours, until I am off watch again,’ to which the answer is invariably yes. Then it’s just a matter of time - hour by hour, watch by watch - until gradually the wind loses its ferocity and the waves their height.

As we’re making northbound progress, the days and nights are getting noticeably colder. In three days I went from wearing shorts and a t-shirt to a thermal baselayer, two fleece sweaters, a midlayer, foul weather trousers, a smoc, a coat, a beanie and gloves. In the next few days the temperature will continue to drop, although the plan is to stay in the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.

This morning, however, cold was not on my mind as I came up on a sunlit deck with not a drop of water to be seen. We are now reaching along on flat water in 10 knots of breeze, making around 12 knots of boat speed with the fractional zero up. I wish this would go on for days, but soon we will pick up the strong westerlies on the northern edge of this high pressure system. Paired with the Gulf Stream this will make for fast and wet sailing - our highway back to Europe.