Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind? - MW Morpheus Log Day 14 -12/04 6:30PM Ship Time (GMT)

 Dawn Day 14 

Miles Traveled: 2,410
Miles To Go (to Antigua): 200
Heading: 293
Current Speed: 9.6 knots
Fastest Ride so Far: [SPECIAL NOTE: Due to conditions and new watch configurations we have segmented this competition into two categories] -

1. OTTO CHEERLEADER AWARD: Jim was on watch when Otto hit an 18.0 Knot mark early on 12/03
2. HUMANS DON'T NEED NO STINKING AUTOMATION AWARD: Kim hit 17.8 driving the boat while Otto was in a timeout for bad behavior later on 12/03

Thought of the Day:

"We made it through 2400 miles without breaking anything important or anyone getting seriously hurt. We're not going to screw up the last 200." - Jim

Sailing:

Last night did not start out fun with 3 drivers on hourly watches partnered with two non-driving crew on two hour watches. Throw in a dark night with almost no moon, a squall or two, occasional 30 knot gusts, and it was looking like a long night. Fortunately, in the wee hours of the morning, with two reefs and the jib rolled up, Jim was able to get Otto behaving like the Otto we know and love. We were back on our usual four person rotation, Otto assisted, watch.

We were still riding some big swells and 25+ gusts this morning, so there was some experimentation about the configuration for the home stretch. Jib or no jib? One reef, two reef, no reef?

This experimentation also gave the drivers another unassisted shot at surfing big swells to beat Kim's speed record for the passage. By late afternoon, her record was still intact, winds had settled back into a more comfortable 18-23 knot range, and Otto was driving again.

Our noon-to-noon mark was 200 knots on the nose, in the same range as the previous few days.

Here is the dilemma. At exactly 6:30 PM ship time (GMT), we were exactly 200 miles from our destination. The optimal outcome is to arrive at the marina in daylight to be in our berth before immigration closes for the night. So we have a choice:

• Push to be sure we got to our destination in time to berth and clear immigration with another 200 mile day -or-
• Just let the wind be our guide, keep the boat and Otto comfortable, and accept we may be dropping anchor for the night outside the marina in a sheltered bay upon arrival.

There was plenty of opportunity for analysis. Morpheus' navigation system tracks a lot of wind, heading, and speed data with options to compare the data in strip charts. Comparisons of Doug and Jim's preferred strip charts provided here without additional comment:

Jim's Brain

Doug's Brain

It was no decision really. If we get lucky and get there early - fine. If we get there late afternoon or dusk, we just drop anchor and go for a swim in blue Caribbean waters.

As we close in on our destination we expected to see more boats heading in the same direction as us and were mildly surprised when we did not spot any today.

Food:

Breakfast - Yogurt Fruit and Nut Medley and Rum Cake
Lunch - Salami and Cheese Wraps - Rum Cake is gone.
Dinner - Tory's Texas Hash - Yum!

Sunset Day 14

We sail into the sun on our last full day at sea. - mw

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My intent is to cross-post daily logs to MW Mobile Blog and Jim & Deb's Morpheus Sailing Blog from SailMail while en-route. Due to the technology limitations, these will be short, text-only posts. I'll backfill pictures and video once I am home again. Eventually.

PostScript - All on-board have an opportunity to add comments here on the bottom of post prior to transmission if they so desire:

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