Downwind Days
Latest Position: 10/31/09 1500Z 12 58.966S 010 53.286W
Yesterday the wind held well. I was able to sail along in the mid 6s through the night. The swell is smooth which is great for downwind sailing. When I am headed downwind and have a swell over 10 feet Intrepid tends to round up into the wind. While surfing down the wave one side of the sail collapses and my ride is really compromised.
Other than the good conditions which is great, I had a ship last night. I managed to hail them on the VHF radio and passed them about a mile apart. We don't talk much as they don't speak English well. Today I have been doing more organizing, reading and writing.
Gotta go trim the sails.
Cheers,
Zac
Yesterday the wind held well. I was able to sail along in the mid 6s through the night. The swell is smooth which is great for downwind sailing. When I am headed downwind and have a swell over 10 feet Intrepid tends to round up into the wind. While surfing down the wave one side of the sail collapses and my ride is really compromised.
Other than the good conditions which is great, I had a ship last night. I managed to hail them on the VHF radio and passed them about a mile apart. We don't talk much as they don't speak English well. Today I have been doing more organizing, reading and writing.
Gotta go trim the sails.
Cheers,
Zac
Zac (9 yo) testing out a dinghy made by Laurence at Emerald Bay, Catalina Island
posted by Zac at
5:02 PM
17 Comments:
Keep it up Zac, praying for your safety, but also that you'll just enjoy God's Creation out there...all of that open expanse of water and blue (hopefully not gray) skies...
Ben.
Hey Zac.
I'm really enjoying your blogs and thank you for keeping them up to date. I hope for your safety your arrival goes well. Can't wait to hear from you again.
Cheyenne.
Hi There Zac,
It's great getting the frequent blog entries once again. I sailed our lake here in Oklahoma City this evening and got to see a beautiful Oklahoma sunset! No 10 ft swells here...
Say the photo of you in that red dingy is awesome, it reminds me of the book that helped turn me on to sailing. It is titled "First You Have To Row A Little Boat" by Richard Bode. It has a lot of life lessons that compare to sailing. Not a big book, but a fun read. Question: Does it feel like you are sailing uphill since you are coming north from the bottom half of the world?
You take care and don't forget to spend some time in the good book..
Blessings,
Bob in OKC
What! Zac in a dingy at 9 years old, WITHOUT wearing a lifejacket? Zac, you have come a long way from those days!
You sound good. I'll bet the closer you get to home, the more excited you are. To remember back when you were sailing away from home. Now your sailing back towards home. Pretty awesome. Good to read your posts. No one can tell us how you are better then you!
Great to hear the update. Wishing you the best.
I haven't read the blog in a few days (guess I was getting used to Zac staying at St. Helena), and I was surprised that he was underway again...a good surprise though!
I just finished a Weather course through my local USPS, and I guess I learned more than I thought as I can understand what Zac is saying about ITCZ.
Good luck to you Zac
Sounds good so far Zac!
Are you excited to be headed home? I can imagine your family is very much ready for you to be there with them.
Be safe and remember to be still and listen!
Blessings and a hug!
Anita Miracle ~_/)
Waterloo, NY
Captain SV Wombat
Sail on Zac......sail on!
Heading norwest and towards home, how grand, how outstanding.
Here in the Northeast ol'man winters grip is loosened, the Capri 14.2's have gotten wet at the local sailing club...the Sonar's are at their moorings, and the cold winds are turning to cool breezes.
They're waiting in Grenada, waiting and watching!.
Sail on young man, sail on world traveler, sail on you hero, you role model.
Sail on towards home!
Hello Zac & The Pac,
It's always great to hear sailing joys and challenges early in the morning. The ride was a little rough but I guess that's to be expected since you're out in the middle of the ocean.
Please keep writing while all the memories are fresh in your mind. It will make a much better book read. I know it's a pain to write things down while they are fresh in your mind but believe me it will pay off in the quality of the book. Just stay disciplined and put those feeling down on paper or MS Word.
Sail On,
Douglas Pistone
MDR, California
Go get em Zac. I have not posted for awhile now, I have been busy on my mission. Love that you are back out on that vast expanse of the Atlantic. Take care and God Bless.
Chris Carnaghi
Alhambra, CA
Glad to hear your settling in nicely and having good conditions for you and Intrepid.
I so enjoy reading your posts again as you find yourself crossing the Atlantic. I think the long crossing will be good inspiration for your writing as you have time to relect on your journey as you now head home. Once you've hit South America you just need to take a hard left turn and then the next right and take the real PCH home!
Zac,
Keeping you in prayer as you sail to Granada......enjoy the solitude while you can!
Betty E., Lomita, CA
I am so very happy for you to be underway after having all those problems to overcome at St Helena. Good luck and God speed on your way to the Caribbean we are all routing for you!
Matthew in Florida
Most young boys had a little red wagon....
Awww, the dingy photo is too cute! Sure resembles Zac's homepage photo. We just never know where life will take us ...
Thanks Zac for your recent blogs -- keep 'em comin' please! Best of luck as you face new challenges and opportunities!
CindyinCincy
Zac,
About your conversation with the ship the other night, I was amazed by your comment: "since they do not speak english well".
Is important to have in mind that english, is an important language and everebody who has the opportunity should learn it, but is not an obligation and we should not take it as some thing that everybody has to know.
I can imagine that you were experiencing a difficult situation and was not the right time to start learning new languages.
What I mean to say is that every country in the world appreciates the effort from a foreign trying to learn their language, and you should not miss this opportunity.
Have a wonderful trip and may the gods be with you.
Helio
Brazil
We Americans can appear to be arrogant without even trying. It was clear to me what Zac meant is that they couldn’t converse because they didn’t share a common language. I don’t think “importance” of a language was either implied or inferred. We loose so many communication tools on blogs by not being able to read a person’s body language and jesters.
Wayne
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