another day in the washer

Last night, before dark, we decided to tack and go north to avoid a new depression forming right ahead of us. We certainly did the right thing, avoiding the stronger winds ahead. But going north made us take the seas from a different angle, and the boat started slamming the seas violently, to the point where again, we suffered some minor damages. One of them was the line of the roller furler that got out and on top of drum, jamming itself between the drum and the outside body. In one particularly violent slamming it broke and the genoa unfurled completely. Fortunately, most of the line is still on the drum and if we needed to reduce the genoa, we would have to heave to, tie the two parts of the line and pass it though larger block that would accept the knot (we have two of those). Then we should be able to roll it in. We could not do this without heaving to as the foredeck is sometimes underwater, the bow going straight through the waves.
Karen had to set up camp on the leeside bunk and she is now reading comfortably without running the risk of being ejected out of the bunk.
The good news is that we are now going north and getting closer to the center of the high pressure system. Within approximately ten hours from now, the wind should start to drop and the worse will be behind us.
Breakfast having been on the lighter side, I decided to prepare cheese omelets for lunch. And I did ! But it required a lot of juggling with every item going into the preparation trying to fly their own way.
So, tonight, can opener cooking, with another french specialty "Petit Sale aux Lentilles".
This is my sixth atlantic crossing, and might turn out to be the first where I do most of the way between the Caraibbean and Horta not only on close haul, but tacking in the end. We have as of now 541 miles to go to Horta, as the crow flies, but if we have to tack, it will become 1,000 miles and another week. Tacking on a Morgan 41 Classic, which is otherwise on wonderful cruising boat, is not the easiest way to go as she goes something like 120 degrees between tacks.
At 20:00 Universal Time, we were 34:07 N and 38:23 W going north at 5.5 knots.
Hopefully, I should be able to paint a better environment tomorrow.


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