2015-16 Solo Round The World – Day 93 - Batten down the hatches mode

by Joe Harris - GryphonSolo2 on 27 Feb 2016 2015-16 Solo Round The World – Life here on the perimeter goes on- the last two days the weather has been lovely- sunny days and starry nights with full moon- moderate winds of 18-30- mainly from the west (behind us-) but the next gale is imminent here so I am in 'batten down the hatches mode' once again. Cape Horn looms about 2,300 miles ahead across some gnarly waters, so I am trying to proceed both quickly and cautiously as I pass the half-way mark from New Zealand.

I was definitely knocked back a step by my scary experience in the last gale, so have acted early today to get the storm jib up and the third reef in the main, to avoid having too much sail up when the worst of the blow hits. I have 30 knots of wind on the beam at the moment but the forecast is for up to 50, so I am trying to stay ahead of it. The last move would be to the fourth reef, so I will consider that before sunset, then hope to ride out the worst of it below in the cabin.

On the entertainment front, I have been reading a good, old-fashioned, get-the-commie-bad guys- spy novel called 'Full Force and Effect' by Tom Clancy and am enjoying it. On movie nights, I caught 'Pleasantville' a trippy little number that is worth checking out, and a classic- 'Wedding Crashers', which never disappoints.

I am waiting for some calm weather to work on the damaged Solent jib- I emailed with sailmaker Mark Washeim at Doyle Sailmakers, LI, and we both think/hope the sail can be made useable again by simply cutting away the torn part of the foot and using the next horizontal seam up as the new foot. I can work on the sail without taking it down, I just need a calm day, which is rare down here. The sail is a critical one in the arsenal, so hopefully I can get it back in the game soon.

Otherwise, I am missing my family and friends a lot but email is saving me- thanks to all for that. College lacrosse season has started- so a shout out to the Virginia Cavaliers men’s lacrosse team and Coach Dom Starsia- who have been big supporters of the GS2 RTW Kharma Bus campaign- so good luck fellas- I know you can do it. I can't wait to get back to coach and watch my kids- Griffin, Emmett and Sophie- play, which I truly love.

And a big, loud 'Get Well Soon' message to my Mom who was involved in a car accident and is recovering from a broken arm. Feel better Mamma!

So that’s about it for now- watching the wind dial and sea state rise- hopefully GS2 and I will weather yet another Southern Ocean blow.

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