Greetings from the FPB Wind Horse where for most of the past 24 hours the sea state could be considered less than conducive to wandering the planet aboard your home afloat. As sometimes happens, we have been discussing the state of the world, our position in it, and the hard life of the trans Atlantic sailor.

We’ve done the difficult(slow)miles in our younger days, been wet inside the boat, worried, uncomfortable, all the while not being sure of where we stood navigationally (this, of course, in reef strewn waters). With the bliss of youth and its accompanying ignorance, the pull of the horizon was sufficient to draw us onward. Maturity brought experience and the wisdom to see the error in the concept that ocean crossing was something to be endured. Make the boat secure, dry in the worst weather, with a soft motion in confused seas, and fast in a cruising context, and we were more likely to keep chasing the horizon as a team.

So here we are mid-ocean, 2100 miles into the present journey, and we are testing Wind Horse’s mix of design elements. Instead of the deep sailing angles promised we are power reaching, to put this in the parlance of our past. True wind angle is 90 to 105 degrees, blowing 14 to 20, with swells from the north and southwest playing with wind waves from north to northeast, creating a confused soup which we now traverse. Adverse current, which we thought banished to the east, has returned, and of course is stacking the waves.

What’s life aboard like in these conditions? We invite your study of the associated photos. They tell the story better than words. Mix 360 degree views, a single large space in which the two of us work, relax, stand watch, and cook, with a seagoing formula that includes minimal motion (the photos are shot at 1/20th of a second, hand held, with an unstabilized lens)and you begin to see why we are pleased to be at sea. Add in a delicious dinner of lentil soup with fresh cornbread, followed by dessert in the form of a spectacular sunset, and you will understand of what we like about all of this. At this point in time, in this sea state, there is nowhere else we’d rather be than here, on our own, enjoying unlimited horizons, and the company of each other.

Having paid our dues with many thousands of miles on less optimized yachts we feel not the slightest bit guilty enjoying the seagoing ambiance that is our lot with Wind Horse.

The odd surf is now in the equation as we catch a wave from time to time. We have resisted the urge to sag off course to the south and get the sea squared up for better rides. That is a debt in height to weather we don’t want to pay if the wind stays north northeast, although the breeze feels like it wants to go more east. Progress continues toward Saint Lucia at our usual eleven knots, there are 648 miles to go as of 1200Z, and as you will have deduced from the foregoing comments, Wind Horse and crew are at peace.

Position: 16 43’00.74 N, 048 39’43.13 W