"It's cold," is how Joe Harris summed things up this morning in a satellite call from the boat. Then almost as an afterthought he added, "and rough." It has been a long night for Joe aboard Gryphon Solo as he sails north from South Carolina on his qualifying trip for The Transat. This morning he was due east of the entrance to the Chesapeake Bay feeling the effects of a strong northerly wind blowing down from Canada. The north, northwesterly was causing him to sail close hauled and with the sails sheeted on tight the boat was pounding into steep seas. Indeed the Iridium satellite hook-up was so clear you could hear the waves slamming into the bow of the boat and water cascading down the deck.
Joe rounded Cape Hatteras just before dark last night and as expected he encountered rough conditions. Then surprisingly the wind died and swung into the north forcing a tack offshore. For two hours Gryphon Solo was on a heading perpendicular to the course to Newport, but Joe felt that it was important to get away from land and out of the current. The edge of a front passed overhead and on cue the wind swung back into the northwest. At 08:00 local time head was heading directly for Newport 300 miles away sailing at 8 knots.
Despite the sunny skies the forecast for the next 24-hours is cold and windy. It's a good test for the boat and skipper: The Transat race will be sailed mostly upwind and the boats will sail close to the lower limit of icebergs so Joe had better get used to it. "Other than a little water sloshing around the bilge everything is fine on board," Joe said. "I have not been able to sleep much since leaving so I am hoping that during the day today I will be able to get some rest. All things being equal Joe should be able to get some sleep before another long night tonight.
- Brian Hancock (great.circle@verizon.net)
