Day 104

I was moving a little slow this morning. Consequently, we didn't get out of Calabash Bay until around 8:30. The wind was still holding strong out of the east as we set out. We tacked our way around the tip of the cape and then began our trip south, down the windward side of Long Island to Clarence Town, the first safe harbor we'd come to.

Right from the beginning, as soon as we had nosed out from behind the protection of the cape, we were bashed by the wind whipped swells of the open ocean and I began to feel queasy. I think the gastronomical fragility I was experiencing may have been tied in some way to the hangover I was also nursing this morning.

Thinking back over the trip, I realized every time I've been touched by seasickness, has been on the day immediately following a night of heavy drinking. Obviously there is a correlation, but could this also be the cause? Of course, extensive field testing will be required to be sure.

Today, as expected, was another full day of heavy weather sailing. Staying well off the lee shore to our west, we thrashed along in the sun and the spray and the salt, soon regaining the sand-papery skin and crusty clothes of yesterday.

The amount of extra energy expended during rough weather compared to moderate weather is impressive. The mere act of keeping your balance for the day on a wildly rolling boat is an isometric workout that lasts for ten hours. So, I felt a certain amount of relief when we finally saw the church steeples of Clarence Town pop above the horizon and slowly swell into view.

I would argue that the final couple of hours making our way into Clarence Town harbor were the roughest of the trip thus far. The waves were the biggest we've seen and worse, were steep enough that the crests were breaking and cascading down on us in vertical white walls. At times I even found it necessary to veer off course in order to attack the rolling giants at a more favorable angle.

Fortunately, we arrived in Clarence Town without mishap, dropped anchor, and made a big dinner. We are still comfortably provisioned from our shopping spree at Costco back in Ft. Lauderdale, but the selection is now wearing a bit thin. With no refrigeration, nothing perishable could last this long and with so much food already on board, neither of us can justify buying more so, we eat our pasta and rice and canned corn and dream of the day we'll once again have dairy and red meat.