EOD 11 – Countdown

We are counting down the miles like no one’s business, but we’re having to work pretty hard for them. Breeze is 18-20 knots in boisterous seas, but we’re learning new modes on the boat. Of course, the big surfs are our favorite. It’s getting so commonplace to do these monsterous surfs that roar for the driver, but the person down below is just la, la, la. I guess you get used to the going fast sounds, and if they are playing, you can fall asleep!
We have definitely entered preservation mode now. We have boat speed. We have plenty of wind to see us to the finish, so the goal is to not break the boat or ourselves. Careful, careful, careful.
Last night we did two sail changes A3 – A2.5 – A3 and one backdown to clear some plastic from the keel, plus a few wipeouts. Those all take a lot of energy. So less of those activities are on order for the remainder of the race.
We’ve been on 30 minute watch changes for the last 2 days. It is working great, but we are super happy we were able to get longer breaks in the first 8 days of the race. Here’s hoping we’ve managed our energy levels well enough…
And with that I’m off to the beanbag for a 30 minute snooze.