TOO MUCH

Sometimes it's just too much. Too much water. Too much sky. Too much wind. Too much darkness. Last night the wind shook through the rig, leaving me tense, aware, and nervous in my berth. Thirty plus knots sent us lunging, dropping, rolling, and heaving. Wavebombs detonated violently below the hull. By 2am I had had it.

"That's it, I'm taking all the mainsail down." I said aloud as if to convince myself that I was going on deck. I had been going back and forth in my head about it for the last four hours. We were making good speed and maintaining our course, but it was, well, too much. Too much slamming. Too much force. Too much water coming over the boat. And water coming in too. A mysterious leak funneled a little stream from under the refrigerator. I stripped down and locked into my harness. Climbing forward we collided with a wave. I braced myself on all fours and caught 10 gallons in the face. I spit, wiped my eyes and pulled the main down, wrapping it with a sail tie.

Shortly after, the wind decided it was tired of blowing so hard. Swell righted herself and flogged. I couldn't believe it! Back on deck, the sail went back up. The wind teased and puffed. Sail down. "It's not that strong now, Liz, put it back up." Okay, I put it back up.

Today the sea is quiet. Only the tall, sloppy windswell leftovers remind me of the last night's sleepless nerve-rattling. As we glided smoothly across the equator a few hours ago, I earnestly thanked Poseidon for giving me the 'day off' and went back to reading in the sun.

LIZZY from S00 11' & W156 07'