Position: 31 degrees, 44 minutes south; 172 degrees, 29 minutes west (126 mile day)

Little buggers! They’re lurking.

We spent the morning going through our storm checklist and making sure everything that needs doing was done and checked off. In the meantime, the gremlinss were playing tricks. The first “event” was when I turned on the radar to check on a big squall in front of us to get a sense of what direction it was going and whether we could avoid it…the radar had quit sending. Nothing. Arghh! Just when I needed it the most! I decided a reboot might help, but needed have bothered. I turned it off, then went to do something else and when I came back it had restarted itself. It still wasn’t working, but it turned itself on. It did that three more times before I decided to switch it off at the circuit breaker and have lunch. After lunch I tried it again. Now it’s working. Gremlins. Having a bit of sport.

Then, we decided it would be a good idea to run the engine and charge the batteries good and full. We’re not going to have much sun for the solar panels for the next 36 hours and one of the checklist items is to lock them down anyway, so no solar power. So, after starting the engine I noticed a funny whine. Or maybe not. It’s so faint and inconsistent. Gremlins. They are messing with me.

Sometimes people call this phenomenon “automatic rough”. When you’re getting ready for a difficult stretch “stuff” happens.

But I know better.

Other than little disruptive creatures, we’re as ready as we can be. Everything’s tied down or put away and we put the storm sails – two little sails each about the size as a Laser sail – up before sunset. Much easier than trying to subdue a flogging jib on a heaving foredeck and tucking the main away. So for now, we’re motoring until it gets either too windy or the waves get too large to comfortably motor. That is forecast to be sometime between now (just after dinner) and midnight.

Position: 33 degrees, 03 minutes south; 174 degrees, 24 minutes west (135 mile day)

When we set the after dinner watch last night we knew the wind was building for a blustery night and set a double reef in the main. We were trucking along at 6-8 knots with the double, stays’l and jib and this combo in 20-25 knots of wind works well and it gives us two more adjustments if the wind increases. In that case, we furl the jib and if that’s not enough, we can go to the triple reef. The triple reef and stays’l works great into the high 30’s.

It was Ann’s watch until 0200 and as it progressed the wind did indeed increase. She’s become quite the sailor and was able to handle the needed changes as the wind pushed into the high 20’s. As the breeze freshens the dynamics of sails change – the overall balance of boat, wind and water shifts – and unless you respond, it won’t go where you want it to!

So, Ann adjusted the wind vane on the helm – three clicks to leeward to counter increasing weather helm. Then she eased the main a bit and tweaked the wind vane itself a bit to angle us more downwind in the building waves. Finally around 0100 I awoke from a very deep sleep – hadn’t heard a thing until then – as I could hear winches turning. Ah, Ann was furling the jib. In 30 knots of wind! It’s easier to say it than to do it. By yourself, it’s kind of like patting your head and rubbing your tummy. It requires a lot of coordination and dexterity. In the dark when you can’t see a thing outside the cockpit, the boat’s rocking and rolling and it’s raining (Oh, did I mention we crossed into a front full of squally, rainy weather?) furling the jib also takes an experienced “touch”. Ease it out a bit with one hand on the starboard winch, then grind in the furling line with the other hand on the port winch. But not too much or you’ll break it! Ease, tighten, ease, tighten and ten or fifteen times until the jib is nicely tucked around the headstay. Whew!

By the time I came on deck around 0130 the wind was still increasing beyond the comfort level for the double reef. Charisma and Wilson were straining to keep course. The wind was now solidly in the mid-twenties with sustained gusts into the mid 30’s – and it’s still raining. Going up to the mast and putting in the final reef in those conditions is a whole “nother” story but for now, I’ve run out of time.

For now…Tahiti beckons.