Voyage from Iceland to Scotland

On the evening of Thursday, September 18, I decided I wasn't hungry enough or interested enough to go out to dinner, so the three guys went without me. It worked out for everyone. Left alone, I put on some of my music and cooked up ratatouille and chili for us to have along the voyage. Unconstrained by my vegetarianism, Peter, Enis and Shalako opted for the fish and chips diner they had noticed during out walks in town. There are three choices on the menu: fried fish and chips, fried fish or fried chips--nothing else. The guys reported that this diner has perfected the making of fish and chips since it is all they do, and the dinner was up there with the best we've experienced.

Enis was the first up that morning and he started the generator to warm up the living area of the boat. It was 46°F inside! I did not get out of the warm bed until it had reached the 60s. Peter and I have added our open sleeping bags to the quilts and blankets. We should have thought of this in Greenland! Of course, outside it was even colder, and the northerly wind made it feel as if it were below freezing.

Screen shot of my phone at 9:30 Friday morning

We spend Friday morning, September 19, waiting for the wind to die down a bit and doing chores in the engine room, on deck and in the galley, and at the laundromat, where I spent a couple hours since we had been unable to complete washing and drying the previous night. While I was there, the three guys were invited to tour the brand new search and rescue boat which had arrived a couple days before. The crew even took them out for a brief foray on the water.

After the laundry was folded and put away, I made two types of sandwiches for the passage, and the guys did guy stuff. We ate chili and garlic bread (since I had nothing to make the corn bread which typically accompanies chili) and got ready to go even though the wind was still robust. 

At 2 p.m., we cast off the dock in Höfn and left the well-protected harbor for the northern North Atlantic, passing a flock of gulls by the fish processing plant and, farther out, eider ducks flying over and landing in the water. We waved goodbye to Iceland and the glaciers. Twenty minutes later, we turned around because Enis noticed a broken car for the mainmast. Back at the dock, Peter fixed the problem and also checked the alternator belts again. We made our second and final departure just after 5 p.m.

Gulls by a fish processing plant

Eider ducks

Enis, Peter and Shalako preparing to raise the main with reefs before we turned back

With lots of wind from the north, we have been sailing downwind almost all the time on this passage. The wind has been at 20 knots minimum, but usually around 30 with gusts up to 40 knots. It seems to be going a bit below 20 right now. At times, we just a fully reefed main and a staysail aloft, the autopilot could not cope with the wind and the motion of the waves, which are about 3 meters high and breaking on their crests. Sometimes (like now) the waves carry us up and then we crash into the trough with a loud, shuddering ka-boom! The sea state has been variable, with 3-5 meters the range. Routinely, waves break when they meet us and send water pouring all over the decks and down the hulls, and, from inside, the windows seem as if a waterfall is descending past them. Other than the sandwiches, the food I prepared for the voyage has gone uneaten because the boat is rolling in the waves too much. On the sunny side, it has been mostly sunny! 

The weather on the ocean Saturday morning

Our time is spent standing watch, managing the sails, eating, keeping hydrated, and sleeping. Knowing my aversion to the cold, the guys have graciously allowed me to stay below. (I did make quesadillas earlier today and kept them supplied with hot beverages, so I am trying to do my part, but truly, I am a fair weather, tropical sailor.) Sleeping is a challenge because of the tilting of the boat and the continual rocking from side to side. Enis has managed to stay in his upper bunk, but Shalako chose to lie on the floor in their cabin rather than risk broken bones.

Shalako snuggled up between a wall and his bunk

Wanting to run wing and wing without the mainsail, around noon today, Enis and Peter harnessed themselves to a jack line and went forward on the deck to set up the pole and the rigging. Then they came back and unfurled the genoa. But the running rigging looked wrong, so the sail was furled and they went on deck again. On the third try, the lines looked good, and we were flying above 8 knots. (We had been at or below 6 knots before the addition of the spar.)

Peter and Enis preparing the running rigging

Peter sheeting in the genoa

Enis showing his many layers

The wind has finally calmed down and backed to the west. The sail configuration is changing even as I type. We are now using the genoa and a reefed main on a starboard tack, sailing SSE with about 15 knots of wind towards the northernmost part of the Hebrides, which we will see tomorrow. The waves have also calmed down some and are only 2-3 meters in height. 

After we get to a dock or drop anchor tomorrow, I will begin putting things that have been thrown all around back in their places, including books and items in the galley.

One of the kitchen cabinets

I am going up to the pilot house now, after put on a couple more layers; I have long underwear covered by heavy sweatpants on the bottom and a fleece jacket and a down jacket on now, so I just have to add warm boots, a scarf, my foulie jacket and a knitted cap! It's summer somewhere!