Post 18

The Power of Prayer is Amazing!

Out of the westerlies and Caribbean and into the Bermuda Triangle …. With less than 10 days to go to reach Annapolis. 

If this nasty forecasted low front forming off of Hatteras would just make up its mind and get out of our way, we should have smooth sailing from here to Annapolis and possibly arrive by June 6.

But in the meantime, it is all about the lighting! Last night was an evening with rain, thunder clouds, and lots of lightning. When your 75 foot mast is the tallest thing on the water for miles around, lightning is not good. Fortunately we have radar and we’re able to use it to see the storms in the dark and navigate around the worst of them. 

Radar is great. But for me, prayers are even more important. I spend the first hour of every watch saying the rosary.  When we are in squalls or lightning storms like last night or crossing an ocean with one rudder and steering by hand, I say the rosary for the entire watch, thanking God for getting us safely through this journey, one challenge at a time.  Well, God, Captain Anthony (with his experience of 55 crossings), the crew (Jerry and Paul; Bartek was with us for first 1000 miles but missed the real excitement), and a sound boat. 

The power of prayer is amazing. Thank you to everyone that has been praying for us to get home safe. We are almost there!

On a related note, as I shared in Post 16, checkout the song, “How can you not” by Leanna Crawford.

It is definitely the right vibe for this adventure plus she has a wonderful voice and all positive music. I don’t think you will be disappointed.

Now back to that nasty low front forming off of Hatteras.

One scenario has us dealing with 35+ knot winds from the northeast. If this develops, we will run south in “following seas” and duck for cover somewhere below Hatteras. Not my favorite scenario. But it would be prudent if these northeast gale force conditions occur.

Another option is for us to get north and east above the storm and ride the winds on a starboard reach heading east for a day or more right into the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. This is better, but will still be a wild ride through the Gulf Stream. Since the Gulf Stream flows to the north from the south, winds coming down from the north make for huge waves and a washing machine affect in the ocean. Ugh.

A more favorable scenario is for the system to move out of our path so we experience reduced winds from a gale force from the northeast down to a more manageable 25 knots and from a more favorable wind direction. It will still be a ruff ride in the Gulf Stream, but easier on Just Live and her crew.

My preferred solution is to pray for the wind to back around a bit from the northeast to north (or veer south) and that the wind speeds decrease as we get there late Saturday to early Sunday.  This solution has my bet. Lots of positive prayers and a Captain Anthony that is a master guru in reading weather will definitely help improve our odds here.

For now, we are heading north to get a better angle on the winds as we line up to head into the Chesapeake. 

No more fish caught yet. But since we are now out of the 83+ degree water into 80ish Fahrenheit sea water, the sea grass is going away. This will help with the fishing, I hope.

Pray for favorable winds this weekend for us.

Cheers,

Paul