Moments to Remember

Rubicon and I are currently sailing northwest, which is more than a few degrees off the course to Newport which lies to our southwest. No sailboat can sail directly into the wind, and the wind is now coming from the southwest, so I am forced to choose a side. I chose the north as this should bring us through the approaching weather front much sooner and the winds behind the front should be from the north or northwest which will allow us to resume our proper course. As I sit here listening to the wind and watching the miles tick by, it occurs to me that there are many moments to remember in sailing and at least one to excite any feeling in the human spirit.

Yesterday afternoon I completed a full rewiring of the ‘seatalk bus', which controls the boat instruments. I'm neither the most nor the least technical of sailors though maintaining the boat over the years has somewhat increased by skill set. Therefore, despite my skepticism that the project would be successful I felt a certain satisfaction in completing the task as I flipped the instrument's switch on the control panel and hopped on deck to check the status. Strikeout! Not only were my instruments still out, but when I returned to the nav station there was smoke coming out from the wiring area. As this violates the ‘no fire on the boat commandment ‘ it was a moment to remember. Fortunately, it was not necessary to deploy the fire extinguishers and the problem was quickly resolved by turning the batteries off and isolating the offending components. Fortunately, no damage was done but I determined that the next time I attempt to correct this problem will be when I get to the mooring; meanwhile, I will concentrate on sailing the boat.

Another moment to remember occurred later last night as I was sleeping on a mat on the floor of the main cabin in my full foul weather gear. It was a pretty stormy night and despite being reefed down I felt it may be necessary to go on deck quickly. About two am the sound of the high water alarm, not a foot from my ear, woke me from what was a very light slumber. There are many alarms on the boat (off-course, high water, ship approaching, etc) but the high water alarm is not one you want to hear in the middle of the night. Rubicon was sailing close hauled in heavy weather and of course was taking a little water in the bilges which was easily pumped out by the electronic bilge pumps. The heel of the boat had simply caused some water to pool around the actuator and sound the alarm. Another item on the to do list, move the actuator a few inches higher.

I was just getting back to sleep from the alarm episode when I weas startled by a loud crash as one of the heavy ceramic coffee cups that had been swinging happily on its hook since leaving Newport in late April decided to fly off and crash land on the galley counter. Another visit to “Dunken Donuts’ and I can complete my set again but these moments to remember were getting a little tiresome.

Thankfully most of the moments to remember in sailing don't trigger the worry meter at all. Two days ago I was stuck in light airs and had done about all I could do to get the boat moving. I was just turning to go below when I saw a shape off the stern quarter of the boat. As I focused, I realized that a whale was swimming by the boat not a hundred yards away. it was easily the size of the boat and it was awesome, first showing its head, then its body and finally its tail as it dove. I stayed on deck a long time after that but never saw it again. Huge, majestic and graceful, it was indeed a moment to remember.

Peter Bourke / Rubicon

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