Yesterday was a nice calm day so I decided it was time to have a go at climbing the mast. Down came the mainsail, on went the main electric auto pilot, on went my dorky helmet and up I went. Ella's Pink Lady hasn't got the tallest mast and there wasn't much of a sea, but I certainly felt every little roll up there!
It was good to have a look around up top after being at sea for so long and before we hit the bumpy stuff. I'm happy to report that everything looks to be in perfect condition. The view was definitely great and it was really cool to see Ella's Pink Lady sailing along from another angle (see pic below). If I can say so myself, what a cute little boat! The trip back down was the most interesting part because I didn't manage to give myself a very smooth ride, ouch!
Typically, while I was swinging around at the top of the mast, the wind, which had been steady all morning, started knocking us about (changing direction to come from the direction we were headed). Luckily I had my remote commander (a gadget that controls the main auto pilot and displays information like our heading, the wind strength and etc.) with me and was able to bring us around to a better course. It wasn't exactly a high drama situation as there was only a light breeze. Worst case scenario would have been an even more uncomfortable trip back down, but I got a thrill out of the fact that here I was swinging around at the top of the mast sailing Ella's Pink Lady like a remote control car. Pretty amazing!
It wasn't till yesterday morning that I noticed that my adventure up the mast didn't leave me completely untouched. I'm just a little stiff all over and have a few extra bruises. But all good.
We've had great progress lately with the wind a steady 14 knots. Ella's Pink Lady loves reaching in conditions like this and yesterday I hardly saw our speed drop below 6 knots. I love this sort of sailing too because the motion and heal is nice and comfortable. It's a treat being able to move around the cabin without doing the arms and legs everywhere (spider impersonation!) that it often takes to stop myself being thrown about.
Also, yesterday we sailed into the 40's. The wind didn't suddenly start roaring or anything but I'm sure that part comes later. Today's been a pretty average day. Not average as in bad, as everyday's great! Just nothing much new or out of the ordinary.
I dug out all my Christmas music today (my favorites would have to be snoopy at Christmas and Christmas with the Wiggles!) and have been singing along very loudly and very, very badly!
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