Transpac Blog II-21: Sea Witches.

The tricksters were out last night. The sun went down, and and the goblins had their way with us.

The dark-as-pitchness was worse. The swell was the same. The wind around 15 knots. Really challenging keeping a boat under spinnaker on one track. At 4:30AM we went by the lee, and backwinded the mainsail, causing the boat to tip the WRONG way (away from the boom), like it was completely possessed. Psyche laid over, the eye holding the mainsail onto the rail was badly damaged, but the bullet was dodged. No other damage.

This, just before my watch. I hadn't been handling the spinnaker sheet more than 5 minutes, when I just let go of the damn thing to move over to adjust another line. The sheet ran around the winch and through all the blocks like a piece of spaghetti. I have no idea what I was thinking. I just let go of it. All hands were called, we snagged the thing and got the flogging spinnaker under control without damage. I apologized profusely. The rest of the crew tried to psychoanalyze me (separation anxiety was the consensus).

But all this was caused by the sea witches. Nothing but mischief.

I heard this afternoon that my dad died at home of kidney failure. He was 86 years old. He is the reason I am here, on Psyche, racing to Honolulu. He has always loved hearing my stories about messing up on boats, and everywhere else. He is a good friend of those sea witches. I don't know when he died, but I'm betting he was watching me screw up, egging the sea witches to greater heights.

Dad, I'll be watching for you tonight.