Position: 18 ° 07 ′ North 023 ° 59 ′ West
Miles traveled so far from Las Palmas 764 – Missing in Mindelo (Isla Sao Vicente) 94
06.00 – my shift from 05.00 to 08.00 – only noise the water flowing under the hull everyone is sleeping – fresh wind – soft sea
Could it be the moon? The moon is crazy, like this ocean that until yesterday morning stirred us, or rather agitated, scrambled, while at night among some clouds, a crazy moon came out, with a light so white and strong as to illuminate the white sea of crests. , to make it look like a snowy field; for a few minutes we had the sensation of not being at sea, but in the mountains, with the crisp and fresh air, with the cap on our head and the Montura jacket stolen from mountaineering, and the gaze at white hills made silver by the light really intense. What strange sensations.
Then he too, the ocean calmed down, and the light became less intense, towards dawn we started a different dance, finally.
We can not fail to be in the race. It is a subtle psychological attitude that leads us to look at the positions and to want to run, as if this gives meaning to what we are experiencing. This time we struggled to get into the rhythm because the first few days were too violent, and we didn’t have the strength to think about anything but to keep calm, balance and avoid maneuvering errors, but in the depths of our hearts we he was interested in how fast we were compared to the others. Of course man is really a racing animal even if he doesn’t know it.
Yesterday towards the end of the morning our Router at home (La Ceci, who is not physically here, but is inside Ariel, close to me and inside the race) calls us and informs us that we have lost a position, and that in short, we should have done something to stay ahead! While I was talking to the satellite, caught at the last ring, hot and dressed in maneuvers at the bow, with life jacket and waxed, I inform the lady that we had just finished the maneuver to hoist the Genny, our blue gennaker on one side and the pole with genoa on the other, and this is how we are racing downhill towards Mindelo with a true race setting, with the wind that dropped to 12 knots although very irregular, with peaks up to 20 to collapse at 8-9 knots like in a swing , and Ariel indulges him, and from lady of the sea, sly and calm, she turns into a galloping colt,while we are spectators, almost incredulous, and we cannot even adjust sails or course, it’s a question between boat, wind and sea, they say. So at the console, which seems to have become that of a spaceship, to confuse even our pilots, Fulvio and Marcello, we witness this duel made of nature and technology as we glide without a jolt as on a cobalt blue velvet ribbon. Could it be the moon?
While they play it is time to make bread and a real great coffee.
Paolo & Ariel
