This morning we launched at dawn. Literally as the crimson star rose above the horizon to the east, we were making our way out the Atlantic City inlet.
Windless.
Another missed opportunity yesterday, and today we launched into serenity and calm. The feeling of joy at leaving Atlantic City was more powerful than our resistance to using the four cylinder diesel beast in our craft, and we motored happily out into the rolling southeast swells of the Atlantic.
Earplugs deep in our heads, we coasted over rolling black waves that started long ago and thousand of miles away off the coast of West Africa. We were so happy to be free of the clutches of that port.
To make our exit even more poetic, there happened to be a building on fire in Atlantic City as were leaving, and the city was covered in a nasty cloud of thick black smoke. As we headed to the clear sea, we spotted the first pelican of our trip, leading the way south. The pelican is Lala’s favorite bird, and seeing this lone bird this far north was a good omen indeed!
15 miles into our 40 mile run we felt a puff of a breeze from the east. Another gift from Africa? We’ll take it! It wasn’t enough to keep our jib full, so we debated putting the genoa back up. Tha’ts the sail that we took down the day before, so it was painfully ironic to be considering putting it back up the mast again. We’re lazy cruising sailors, I guess.
But then again, maybe not. We pulled out the biggest sail in our inventory, the spinnaker. This sail hasn’t been out of its bag in 30 years, and we decided to inspect it. Turns out it’s like new. We figured out how to rig it and took our time to get everything ready.
Like a perfect bell ringing a true note through the air, our spinnaker took a long slow deep breath, filled with wind, and then filled our hearts with joy. We choked the diesel to death, dug the earplugs out of our brains, and breathed sighs of relief. We were sailing. FINALLY!
Sure other sailboats passed us, but they were all motoring, and we were getting infinite mileage. Who doesn’t want that? Infinite miles per gallon. Thank you Africa.
Capt’n K & Lala
Location:Cape May, NJ
HI guys just caught up on your recent adventures. I am in tears here in my office after watching the video of the cats trying to move around in your “extream heel” adventure. Glad to hear there was no lasting damage to yourselves or your boat though. Keep your updates coming they make my office time much more enjoyable!
James
James, Glad to hear you also found the humour in watching the cats trying to walk on the boat at a 40 degree angle….we are still laughing about it days later!! We will continue tonpost videos, although I cant guarantee they will all be that hysterical!
Great Post and a lovely picture of Way Happy. The engine noise can become very annoying, but sometimes necessary. I admire that you so keen on actually sailing as much as possible. Hope you had a great day!