Doldrums (Part 1)
Doldrums? Yeah Right!!
So everyone tells you about the doldrums, an area between 12 degrees and 3 degrees latitude above the equator where there is no wind and you just sit and roast. You may also take the time to do laundry, get some R&R, play music and enjoy yourself before the heat and sun make you miserable. Well, that was not our experience at all (at least not at first).
About a day out from the start of the doldrums corridor (an area where Clipper allows us to motor for 6 degrees of latitude to keep the race on schedule). Seumas mentions something about a tropical depression that may give us some wind as we enter the corridor and allow us to start motoring later. Well, “wind” was an understatement.
Enter Tropical Revolving Storm Lorenzo! It started around 4pm on Monday (Day 9), as we were coming off watch at 4pm, and whereas Seumas first thought it would last about 12 hours, it ended up being over 24. We put 2 reefs in (making the main sail smaller and safer for higher winds) and changed to smaller headsails. Winds were high, squalls of rain came through, and helming was really hard. Huge thanks to Vad and Fred who took turns helming for 4 hours during our watch, especially during our midnight to 4am watch. The rest of us huddled in the cockpit deck and kept an eye out for anything that could be a danger.
Once we were back below deck at 4am, I had the most solid 8 hours of sleep I’ve had in a while. Despite the loud banging of the hull as we crashed down waves, I slept like a baby. Other people - not so much. I managed 24 of the 28 hours without seasickness and felt really great about it. Rough weather is much more tolerable (maybe even fun) when you’re not crippled with fatigue and nausea.
We were back on deck at 12pm and even though I had hoped the storm would have calmed by then, no luck. The Clipper boats are solid and the sea was so impressive. It was 15+ foot waves, 30 knot gusts of wind, and a hell of a lot of fun! (Disclaimer: the first 2.5 hours of our watch were fun, then we were just exhausted and ready to be less wet by any degree. I spent a solid 48+ hours soaked to the bone with either sweat, seawater or both).
But back to the first 2.5hrs, your hands quickly become white and shriveled and literally look like they’d belong on a corpse, but even more unusual is how warm the water is. I was on the foredeck fixing a line that had gotten tangled when a huge wave crashed over the bow. It was like bath water! Amazing to see this big scary sea with waves hiding the horizon and then get completely soaked with warm water. I loved it!
When we got off watch at 4pm, Fred and I audibled on the dinner menu and heated up some ready to eat pulled pork, plus some cheese to make sandwiches. The crew was in tough shape and sandwiches are the best option when people aren’t feeling well. By around 8pm the sea had started to calm down and we were finally about to experience the doldrums properly!
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