A fortnight down with a week to go if we average approx 130 nm per day… 2019 becomes a memory tonight and many future adventures are ready to be unfolded!
After 50 hours of motoring the winds returned around midnight and LodeStar is scooting along at 7.2 knots. The relief of not hearing the diesel drives pound, places the crew in high spirits however after two weeks of being together the daily norm seems rather mundane, we have copious amounts of time on our hands, so much time to spend in salty liquid matter.
Reading books has taken over most of the past time, even Neil (our non reader) has competed a 400 page paperback of short stories. Days are measured by our shadow and the rising and falling of the massive ball of fire! The waxing moon has reentered our universe which makes for pleasant evening shimmers on night watch.
Writers pause: the winds just clocked 24 knots and moving LodeStar close to 10 knots downwind, so the crew had to drop the Code Zero and fly the Genoa instead. LodeStar is on the home stretch with 914 nm remaining on the runway so no need to tear a sail at this point!
The past week has not been without its adversity and challenges. Christmas morning Maxwell & I had a philosophical discussion about the usefulness of the old gods (Poseidon, Venus, Neptune etc) over our cup of coffee appreciating the spectacular sun rise, little did we know that somehow during the previous night one of our 300l fresh water tanks mysteriously emptied itself. Fortunately the week before our departure I installed a shut off valve which saved the secondary tank of 300l. Xmas morning was spent opening up every hatch and every plumbing orifice on LodeStar, but nothing, no broken pipes, no damaged pipes, nothing out of place just the loss of our precious water supply. After much debate human error was blamed, so we fired up the watermaker (man was that machine worth every Dollar in that moment. Clauds and I bought the watermaker with this exact scenario in our minds but never thought it would actually materialize). We replaced 150l and turned off all plumbing onboard for 24 hours to ensure no undetected leakage, but still nothing and no explanation to date. The plumbing has performed superbly ever since… who says you shouldn’t discuss the usefulness of the gods 1500 nm at sea!?
The remainder Xmas day was fantastic with a few presents from the family, Max sporting his Father Christmas hat a pj’s. A little effort was made to celebrate dinner in style as you do on LodeStar…
The crew has gone through some interesting challenges. With ‘I can’t sit still ‘ Neil onboard we are doing the marching route to Barbados as when we have wind Neil stares ahead and states it’s time to head West then the following morning when the winds lull slightly he announces its time to head South (left, right, left, right) this is all without studying the Grib (weather) files which Max is downloading for us… we here as a team so a few degrees to Port or Starboard for someone’s sanity is absorbed.
We had an interesting Boxing Day with Maxwell where he woke up after an odd dream and went down the ‘rabbit hole’ to a strange, negative place in his mind. The only solution was to give the man a very wide berth (which we don’t have much space for), but he popped out the other side the following morning apologizing for the very strange mood, let’s hope that’s out of his system!
Dad has an inner peace about him and seems totally content with the play of every day. He has been totally absorbed into LodeStar consuming books, playing chess and patience as we traverse to a new world. When I say dad has been absorbed into LodeStar I mean it in more ways than one, the old mans skin has become so thin that every bump turns into a DNA blood bath onboard…
Personally I have no idea where my mind has wandered. This amount of time takes you to some interesting, forgotten and undiscovered lobes within. My sleeping patterns are horrendous with an average of about three hours of decent REM a night… not sure how long this can last, it’s not for the lack of trying, it’s the constant buzzing of the brain that I can’t stop. Once closer to landfall my subconscious will hopefully relax upon entry into a safe zone! I have been told that I’m grumpy after an afternoon nap, however this experience is still rocking my world!
Wildlife in this abyss is limited to dolphin, some whales, plentiful flying fish (is that a flock or school of flying fish?), two types of terns (we think) who never seem to land, how do they survive out here?
The fishing has increased throughout the trip with Mai Mai still on the menu most days and yesterday Neil landed a 40 pound tuna at nightfall, it was a 45 min experience and the poor tuna fought with all she had and literally died as she reached the boat. The fridge and freezers are full with New Years dinner being Tuna steaks, fries (the last of our fresh potatoes) and onion rings.
Fresh fruit reserves have been depleted with the last few oranges having a slightly stale metallic tase to them but hey they should hopefully stop scurvy…
After pulling this mornings Grib file, LodeStar should be scooting forward until Friday where we have an expected 20 hour wind lull before we should be able to raise full sails and head into Barbados to drop off Neil, but that’s still a week away and a lot of possibilities are out here…
Living Lodestar 
Wow, scary experience to lose the majority of your fresh water in such a strange way. Seems Poseidon, Venus or Neptune were looking out for you.
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