8/4/26: Offshore Sailing

Today again started with thick fog, this time with the addition of pouring rain, which Dd says is an oxymoron because "it never rains, it only pours." There was also a new chill in the air which I shook by turning off the autopilot and actually steering for a while. The wind had built to 25–30 knots, which, while it feels plenty safe on Pelagic, is uncomfortable when heading dead downwind and made cooking a challenge. The boat that had been following us for the last 24 hours finally popped out of the fog only about a kilometer away. To keep some more distance, we jibed to differentiate our course, but it also had the benefit of aligning us with the waves, which allowed us to outrun the boat for another handful of hours, which was pretty fun. There's something very satisfying about clipping into the lifelines and walking out onto the bow of a boat that's rolling and pitching underfoot to walk the pole around that really scratches the offshore sailing itch. Switching the pole for better or worse was the only excitement for today. On the second, I had said that we would see whales on the third and ice on the fourth, and with the whales we had seen yesterday, I was hoping to see ice today to complete my prediction, but as I'm writing this right before going to bed around 11, the time to see ice is dwindling. Nathan and Helene, who are currently sitting the last watch of the day—my last hopes of seeing ice—are currently sitting above me in the doghouse reciting poetry, so maybe it's actually best we don't see ice.

I had thought I had finished my entry for tonight, but I was wrong. We went to start the engine just now after I put my journal down, and we're encountering the same problem with the engine not picking up water we've had previously. Luckily, this time we knew what to do, but it still took us around an hour to get the water back into the engine and ensure that the engine is running at temperature. The nav lights have also started strobing? Tomorrow.