We’ve been doing our usual post passage inspection of the engine room, a part of which is writing up the engine log details with anything we find. This includes noting date and engine hours, which we are astonished to find now number 3010! That’s well over 30,000 nautical miles of cruising.
Wind Horse continues to surprise us with her ability to make voyaging comfortable. Add her cruising speed of 10.5 to 11 knots and you have a combination which invites usage – hence the mileage accumulated in 18 months of usage (which has taken place during the last three years). And we do not feel like we have been rushed. Rather, time feels like it is slowing down (we think this is due to fitting more experience into a given period).
The fact that we’ve been in the Bahamas less than ten days and are both getting excited about moving north towards Newfoundland and Greenland puts the things into perspective. If we pick our weather right – and our ability to maintain cruising speed in almost any conditions helps with this – we are as comfortable under way as we at anchor. Since our ambiance does not suffer at sea, it is easier to indulge the desire to see what’s over the horizon.
There are a couple other elements at work here as well. One is the “great room” approach, combining bridge, salon, and galley, to which we have referred in previous articles. Regardless of what the two of us are doing, we have 360 degree views from this area, which not only makes keeping watch easier (and safer) but keeps us together (a bonus if you enjoy each other’s company). That this takes place over the motion center of the boat makes it even better.
Another factor is communications. With SailMail SSB, Iridium sat phone, with WiFi and Skype phone at anchor, we are much more connected than in the past. Staying in touch with family is easy, as it is for business needs. For some the communication might be a detriment, but for us, and our combination lifestyle/business, this is a huge bonus.
Did we mention we’ve become enamored with this new type of cruising?
Posted by Steve Dashew (July 7, 2009)
