ITCZ

Sun May 01 2022 09:35:00 GMT-0700 (Pacific Daylight Time)

Karri: “Tell them the ITCZ sucks”

Indeed. It does. But on the other hand, it pulls me in like it needs to be experienced and appreciated. The lightning and squalls last night were amazing. It went from pitch black to daylight over and over, and the sea looks angry and massive in such circumstances.

Sheet lightning happened right as we dipped into the trough of a big wave and another from a different angle hit us. In the flash I got to see a wall of water crash onto us from the starboard bow that was so big it swamped the aft port deck (from one corner to the other). They were growing due to strong wind against strong current and waves from at least two directions.

At one point a bolt struck so close to the boat that it was deafening and I could smell ozone. Anyone who has been near a strike knows exactly the smell I’m talking about. I checked and all our instruments seemed to be working. Amazingly the rest of the crew was so tired they slept through the worst when it was right on top of us. In the past I’ve always enjoyed lightning, but when on a boat it’s unsettling for obvious reasons. If struck out here we’d be blown back 200 years in technology and have to break out the sextant to make it to Nuku Hiva. I’ll admit that it sounds like an awesome adventure, but I think I’ll pass.

Right now we’re just doing what we can to make headway against some incredible counter currents. We tried to thread a needle but last night dodging the cells we ended up well outside the path that would have avoided the worst currents. Oh well, we’re now moving against 1.5 knots counter current with 30 knots on the nose. If I alter course…it’s different but not better because it’s so variable, so his angle is the most stable and best to let the crew sleep. This is the smoothest the ride gets, believe me, we’ve tried every direction in the last few hours!

We’re making it through here. It sounds crazy, but everything is well under control and while I’d love better weather, it’s not so different from what I expected here. Coffee brewing, spirits high, laughing off the troubles, running out of dry clothes rapidly. Karri and I have fancy foulies to keep us dry but it has been so wet they completely soaked through within the first hour of use last night. There’s a lot of underwear sailing happening here.

Thankful to be on a sturdy boat. Bashing forward upwind, back where Pulsar loves to be. Coffee is ready, so that’s my cue. Stumptown coffee freshly ground….mmmmmm……the very best.

Last few songs:
Yardbirds – Heart full of soul
U2 – Summer of Love
Led Zeppelin – Ramble on
Fleetwood Mac – Gold Dust Woman
Whitesnake – Till the Day I Die

-Graham