Hang on Sloopy - red sky at morning

Day 17

Stats -  9/16/2023 

Time: 0000

Trip Miles: 2,122

Weather: Barometer dropped to 974

Wind: 35 to 46 Knots blowing from the NW

Sea State: Four to ten foot rolling swells at 7 second intervals

How Far North: 150 miles to Kodiak Island (wind blowing opposite direction)

Propulsion: We set the drogue (no sails up) and we are drifting 2.5 to 3 knots per hour South

Sea Temperature: 53

Thank you Mollie (my sister) for your super appropriate blog title suggestion. Let me start from present (last night before the storm had hit) and work backwards. It is almost midnight of the 16th. Earlier today we came within 150 miles of Kodiak Island and that will be as close as we get for many days. But now, the wind has backed, the low pressure system has come rolling through, and we are coming into the middle of a Force 8 blow with winds up to 46 knots and 10 foot swells. (this is pre-storm). We deployed the drogue so we the wind would not carry us back 300 miles or so, but we are still being blown SE by 3 knots per hour even with the drogue. After an exhausting day, we are warm and cozy in the boat while the wind howls and the boat is violently rocked by the surge.

Uh oh….it is “Red sky at morning”!! This was yesterday’s sunrise at 7:15. Not a surprise, but I should have taken it more seriously.

I went to sleep after my watch ended at 0800, When I awoke 1130, Randall had been working for some time already. As you can see, it was pouring rain in advance of the storm. So let’s talk storm prep….. RANDALL: 1) Made the decision to use Drogue instead of sea anchor; 2) Took out sea anchor, repaired it, flaked it and prepped it for deployment and replaced the anchor chain on it to add weight; 3) Took in the jib; 4) Repaired boom vang on starboard side; 5) Moved lazy sheet around so we could sail on port tack; 6) Took down the main and strapped down the boom into the boom crutch. All in the rain. HARMON: 1) Made coffee for us; 2) Cooked breakfast of hash browns and scrambled eggs; 3) Baked a cake; 4) Baked loaf of bread; 5) Cleaned up kitchen; 6) Vacuumed boat; 7) Cleaned the head. Stayed dry (not fair!)

It is nice to have foods prepared in advance of the storm. Both were delicious, but the cake didn’t quite make the storm because I placed it on top of the stove but not locked in. Somehow it ended up upside down under the stove gimble. Big mistake…huge mess. Two rolls of paper towels necessary for clean up. Sacrificed that one to the storm Gods. Randall made the clean…it was a bad one….

This is well before the storm while I could still hang out in the cockpit.

Here is the drogue all prepped and ready for deployment. It is 300 feet of line with 148 parachutes. (custom designed for this boat). We will release it behind us and the parachutes will create drag so the boat will not be blown off course during the upcoming storm. Unfortunately, the wind in this storm will send us in exactly the wrong direction and if we did not deploy the drogue, we would end up hundreds of miles off course.

All of Randall’s prep paid off and the drogue has been successfully deployed.