So for all of you who think that sailing is all fun and relaxation, here is a little story to ease your jealousy….
as I mentioned yesterday, we were so excited to get going on the ocean that we decided to keep going all night long and take advantage of our weather window of calm seas and good wind. As the sun set, we watched delightedly as the stars came out, and as the hours passed we watched constellations rise and cross the sky.
Beautiful! Romantic! And miserably COLD!!! The wind picked up and it was absolutely brutal being outside in the cockpit. We took shifts of about two hours each at the helm, where we had to pay close attention to not veer off course in the dark. (we were REALLY wishing we had an autopilot!!!!!!). While one person was at the helm the other rested inside, but sleeping was next to impossible because every time you would start to nod off a big wave would nearly roll you out of bed. For the first time I felt what sailors have probably felt for millenia— it felt like we were riding a “wind horse”, galloping (and sometimes bucking) through the water, powered by both the wind and the rolling of the waves.
After watching a glow of electricity on the horizon get brighter and brighter for hours, we finally saw Atlantic City, NJ emerge out of the glow at about 5 am. It was a surreal collection of glitzy skyskraper hotels and casinos, but even the nightlife there seemed asleep and the city appeared void of people or life. We went into a cove there to anchor for a few hours so we could sleep in peace. The anchorage was very protected and calm but getting into it in the dark through the narrow and shallow channel was a major challenge in our frozen and exhausted state. In retrospect it is a miracle we didn’t hit anything. I was on the verge of having a total meltdown I was so miserable. I was having all kinds of thoughts like “why the heck am I on this stupid sailboat anyway? Whoever thought sailing was a good idea was crazy! I hate this!”. This attitude did not help as we experienced some difficulty getting the anchor to hold and we both started getting testy and short with one another. Kudos to K. who kept his head clear and temper even while I cried and yelled.

See? Aren’t you glad you aren’t out here right now? Oh, and did I mention we hadn’t showered for days and half of our tiny interior was full of our dismantled dinghy that we took apart so we wouldn’t be slowed down by towing it? Even something as simple as making a cup of hot tea is an annoying challenge when the boat is rocking and the two square foot kitchen is covered in sailing gear.

The morning dawned clear and sunny ( but still cold!) and even a mere two hours of sleep made us have a renewed perspective on the world. We got up at 8 and kept going, and by this afternoon we made it to the southern tip of New Jersey, where we are at a marina for the night. Hot Showers! Calm Waters! We are going to bed early so good night!

At a solid dock in Cape May with dinghy on deck

Captian K. checking the charts dressed for the cold