First day, no main sail

Day 1 at sea. Ever. 37″12 .393N, 075″40’205W somewhere off the coast of Maryland, US.

I’m up top on first watch with first mate Chip. It’s a gentle evening at sea. The sunset was fabulous. It’s 82°F with a gentle variable breeze. I love the smell of the salty air and the sound of the water lapping at the bow as we cut through.

The moon is no more than a sliver tonight, so thin you can see the dark side. There is no line to define where the sky ends and the sea begins. It’s a strange thing to be so alone in such a vast open place. It’s humbling. I was worried it would be scary, and it still might be.

I’ll let you in on a little secret. I am afraid of heights, and not much for water. In fact, I really never liked boats. But, nonetheless, I found myself shimmying up a mast and crawling along a 25′ boom to unzip the mainsail sock without a pang of anxiety.

Once safely on deck again, Kevin found a rope that needed to be untied up there. At first I though he was kidding—he wasn’t. Up I went and somehow untied it with one hand. Kevin said I’m his hero. I think he meant it.

After all that, the mainsail wouldn’t raise. There’s a problem with the rigging in the top of the mast. We are currently bobbing along at an unimpressive 3 KTS with just the jib. We are planning on having new electronics and AC/heat installed anyhow, so I will find a marina along the way that can fix our rigging issue too.

A big part of this adventure for me is to step outside of my comfort zone. To do things that are strange, new, and bold. I usually get terrible motion sickness. I even had my doctor prescribe meds to take along—but instead Kevin had to take them.