Sunrise found us on a calm sea with a very clear sky and no wind. After the previous nights excitement nobody complained about the lack of wind.
Just before lunch the wind came up from dead behind us at just less than 10 kts. Normally Vagari couldn't sail with this wind because the headsail and mainsail would flop around making lots of noise and not moving us more than a couple of Kts/hr. at most.
But I have a brand new whisker pole installed. This pole will hold the headsail straight out to the side. No flopping around, no sail shape either but with the wind behind us I just want the headsail to act like a big barn door and let the wind push us. We also have a movable boom vang, which we can use to tie the boom that holds the mainsail out to the other side. Sailors call this sailing wind and wing.
Once set up Vagari was doing 6 kts with very little rocking or rolling and no banging of the sails or gear. It was beautiful. By later afternoon we were going between 7 - 71/2 kts still with little motion. We went that way until 9:15 the next morning. The longest fastest sail we have ever had onboard Vagari.
Just after noon the same wind came back and we were off again until an hour and a half after midnight when we had to change course by 37 degrees. With all hands on deck and just star light and a deck light shining from half way up the mast we took the pole down to the deck and unhooked the main. The pole has three control lines attached to the far end plus a height adjustment on the mast end. Lots to do to take it down plus you don't want it banging around so we have to keep control of it all the time. Turning the boat to the new course moved the sails to the opposite side of the boat. We set everything up on the other side and off we went. It was great fun for the men. When on deck at night we are hooked via a tether to a strap that runs from front to back on both sides of the deck. The water was 78 degrees so we were dressed in shorts and tee shirts with bare feet.
The last two nights did nothing to change Rhea's mind that sailors are nuts.
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