Soundings: Sail Day 2 (unedited)

Wednesday July 8, 2014

O230 Cape May Point
Tried to share waypoint and photograph of the lighthouse and beach from the glow of the beacon, we were that close to the shore as we took a few miles off of our entrance to the ocean.

Shut eye: 0300

0500 – 0800 watch duty with Lex and Ted.

<a href=”https://thedownstreamproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/image-e1405073537886.jpg”><img class=”alignleft size-full wp-image-2658″ src=”https://thedownstreamproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/image-e1405073537886.jpg” alt=”image” width=”300″ height=”200″ /></a>Sharing the trip through the blog is a challenging proposition on a rolling sea. Fortunately, I am not prone to motion sickness, but this is not something one wants to do below deck. Mercifully out of cellular range at 1000.

We had a glorious sail most of the day. Remarkably favorable conditions through the early afternoon, but looks like we will start the engine late afternoon evening and leave the mainsail set for stability.

Even at 7 kts + speed we caught two small bluefish on an old reliable cedar plug, the very same one I caught the bluefin tuna on this trip in 2012. Hope springs eternal.

(Most excellent thin crust pizzas for lunch. Nothing like having a generator and a gimbaled oven. Pleased to provision some National Bohemian for old time sake. Still tastes great to me, icy cold.

I decided to use the first small fish as bait, and see what we could raise with a bluefish in tow. Within the hour I got a hefty strike on the line but the speed of the boat made a hook set difficult and I had not taken the time to rig the trolling hook closer to the tail. So whatever it was, and my imagination runs wild, had a nice meal courtesy of the Arcadia.

1620 hours
Spinnaker Set,
course 60 degrees north making 8-10 knots winds out of the South East. Switched to genoa at 1700. Dropped a few knots but steadier ride. 10 – 12 foot rolling swell. Conducive to afternoon knapping, not writing.

1800 hours
Captain Lex is whipping up Chicken Curry and rice, courtesy of his first mate, Allison, who is with us in spirit.

Working out  the rotational schedule for the night watch.  Last letter of the last name in reverse order

 

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