Journal Entry November 1, 2005 Groundhog Day

Aurthor: Scott

I am not sure if Groundhog Day is celebrated in the southern hemisphere, and I guess that it is not, so I have decided to name today November 1 Groundhog Day for the southern latitudes. You see this morning started out under a beautiful clear sky, the air temperature continues to drop daily, and there was a definite chill in the air. Despite the growing cold air, with the blue skies and calmer seas, I was drawn out into the cockpit to enjoy my morning coffee in the sunshine. For the past few days we have mostly been relegated to the inside of the boat because of high seas and damp, gray, cloudy skies. What a wonderful feeling of freedom it was to lounge in the sun with the boat sailing along at a steady 5.5 knots, with the wind alive and fresh. Shortly after I moved out to the cockpit I heard motion down below. Apparently Pam had risen from her nest on the settee, where she had been wrapped in a fleece blanket trying to keep her toes warm and was considering making a visit to the chilly fresh air. Soon Pam was slowly advancing up the companionway stairs, looking like a critter emerging into the sunshine after a winter’s hibernation, the image of a groundhog jumped into my brain, and I asked Pam if she could see her shadow. We discussed her groundhoggish similarities and she determined that the air felt more like fall weather, and though she stayed for a while, she thought it was cold and went back below. I guess it is not yet spring aboard Tournesol

Other notable things that took place on board were our marathon battle with the companionway stairs to try to reduce the squeaking when the boat was rolling. I would lean over holding the stairs up while Pam stuffed pieces of rubber nonskid into the seams of the stairs to try to cushion the squeak. We finally managed to tame the screeches, at least for now. In the early afternoon we heard a sound like a glass breaking in the cockpit and came outside to find that one of the blocks used for our steering wind vane had sheered off completely, but this problem was quickly resoled by removing the block and running the line without it. I was victorious again at Five Crowns bringing the match score up to Scott 5 and Pam 1. Food was hearty though not very exciting with cream of asparagus soup for lunch and chili and rice for dinner. Finally, today was special because it was our first proper shower since leaving Tonga. We have taken may bird baths, but until today we have not had sunny weather for a cockpit shower, however we still shivered like Jello from the cool temperature.

We are getting a little concerned with the wind direction. All of the cruising guides recommend you sail west and then add southing to your course as you approach New Zealand, because the winds often come from the southwest and this avoids wind on the nose as you approach. In our case though, the wind has not yet shifted to the southwest and continues to blow from the southeast contrary to weather reports that the wind will clock around in our favor. This is not a big problem yet and it will only mean a longer passage if things don’t change, or we could just keep going west and end up in Australia.