Mexico, December 1997 (Day 6 of 20)

 

Day 6    Thursday, December 18, 1997

Pacific Ocean (San Diego)

Whoa, what's going on? I awake to heavy rolls and yaws and crawl up above deck to see what's going on. Apparently, a storm crept up on us in the wee hours of the morning and the swells are now quite impressive. We keep pounding through the water, but with very little progress forward.

R1-27-Storm.jpg (112413 bytes)
The pounding sea

When Ken goes to tie down the jib, a big wave hits us and he's actually under water for several seconds, holding onto the bow sprit with his bare hands. I didn't see it, but I heard that one of the guys on deck got a great picture.

It actually gets so bad that we have to heave to for a while, temporarily unable to continue our journey. Unless you have a watch, there is nothing to do onboard except sleep -- if possible. Reading is ruled out unless you want to depart from your lunch. Cooking is actually pretty much impossible too, so we sustain ourselves on cup-a-soups. Morale hits a low.

 

 

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