Hilton Head Island: ready

Our drought has been ended by floods.  Not in our immediate vicinity, but inland where they got more rain than our 6” and some houses and roads are in dips and hollows where they shouldn’t be.  

Yesterday morning was lovely and I biked down and prepared GANNET:  fit the outboard which started as it always has; tested a couple of tiller pilots which worked; put the Velocitek and the Raymarine wind display in their mounts; placed solar lights and a solar flashlight in the cockpit to charge; reconfigured the interior; and filled water containers while being watched with interest by a Great Blue Heron who landed on the dock just off GANNET’s bow.

Preparing for a relatively short, though of unknown duration, sail is so easy compared to preparing during a circumnavigation where you will sail perhaps 10,000 miles in a half year, even though as she is now provisioned GANNET could stay at sea more than a month and cross most oceans.

More rain forecast for this afternoon has apparently been cancelled, but I will stick with my schedule and sail tomorrow morning.

The long range weather forecast is perfect.  Too bad I am skeptical about long range forecasts because I would like to believe this one.  I check the Apple weather app, the Sonuby app which created a Sailing profile at my request, and Windy.  Sonuby and Windy go out fourteen days.  At the moment all suspiciously good.

I almost forgot to pay for another month of line rental from Yellowbrick.  When I was circumnavigating I paid by the year.  Now I only pay for a month when needed.  The tracking page is:  https://my.yb.tl/gannet.  As usual I will have the Yellowbrick set to upload positions every six hours.

Do not be alarmed if you find us making little or no progress at night.

During the Not to Culebra sail earlier this year I injured my right shoulder.  I do not know exactly how this happened.  Probably just twisting or pulling.  There was no fall such as that in New Zealand eleven years ago that almost completely severed the supraspinatus in my left shoulder and required physical therapy and still slightly bothers me.  My right shoulder is much less serious.  I have discomfort doing some of my weight workout and at a few other motions.  Mostly it creates difficulties in finding a painless sleeping position.  Sleeping on GANNET when she is heeled is always acrobatic.  So I intend to suffer as little as possible and will when necessary reduce sail significantly or even heave to at night.  This sail is not about progress, however defined,  but enjoying the thing itself.

I wish you well.