No champagne for new years, chugging back home

Last night was indeed a bit of a rough night as expected. However as I wrote that last blog entry, that was actually the worst of it. I believe that the seas were on the order of 7’ at that time, but all night it’s gone from 3-5’ which is respectable but certainly easier to deal with. The boat makes a hundred noises but somehow I managed to fall asleep quite a few times, only grabbing a half hour or so at a time. I understand now that my energy management plan on the boat is quite imperfect. It’s not good to run the diesel just to charge the batteries, so I’ve been using the Honda generator. This has its own problem, mainly that the entire cockpit is filled with exhaust fumes despite the 15kt breeze. Also, last night at some time we had a very strong salty sea mist, certainly not good for the generator. And the seas are large enough to occasionally throw spray into the cockpit. I assume that if conditions were bad enough for long enough then I would run the diesel, but I now understand that a wind generator is a requirement for any Atlantic crossing. The primary things that draw major power are the autopilot, refrigerator, and the radar system. In the future I want to have a chartplotter running radar and AIS for collision avoidance, so these will be major power draw. Thus far either my solar panels have been shielded while sailing, or like today and yesterday the winds are brought with overcast conditions. So, the current plan is to run the Honda for 2 hours or so to seriously replenish the bank, and then I’ll hide it from the spray. Once I return to civilization I’ll wash it down with freshwater and give it a bath in WD-40. When I left yesterday I was absolutely filled with anxiety for the trip. It didn’t help that I was met early on with large seas, but I could have really used a chill pill. Well time handled that for me, and by midnight I was pretty clearly exhausted. Even now I’m beat down enough that I just don’t have the energy to have anxiety. I suppose that’s a good thing. The deck is currently a very wet place, and there are a few things out there that could stand to be tidied up. However I’m just not very keen on donning my foulies and heading out there to get sprayed a few times while I do things that are truly minor. So we’ll let it ride until I feel there’s a need. Right now and all last night, after the 7’ seas portion I’ve been flying the full main and little jib. I am absolutely amazed at the time I’m making. I had planned on an average of 5 kts which would have made a night landfall at destin on Friday. This is generally a bad idea but I’ve done it enough that I feel I can avert disaster. However my average speed has been above 6 kts which will actually put me at Destin in the AM which would be very welcome indeed. I missed new years festivities last night. No champagne, or ringing of the bell. I think I was just laying down and trying my best to get some rest. I didn’t even notice the time. I haven’t seen a boat since I left Tampa Bay. I know why, most other sailors would rather wait for a better weather window, one with not such huge waves and strong winds. I think I’m doing the right thing, as this is getting me home rather expediently. I’ll stop my GPS track at 10 and determine my 24 hour distance, but I suspect it’s in the 150 nmi league. Some slight bad news is that I’ll be coming offshore of cape san blas in the dark. I’ve been there before and the waves can get a bit wicked, and it is also possible I’ll experience localized wind disturbances. I would prefer to face such challenges in the daylight, but my preferences are secondary on this leg of the trip. I can tell you that I have my day planned out when I return. I want to take a hot shower and cook or buy some good food. Then I’ll do laundry and afterward I will likely take a nap. If I feel really giddy perhaps I will upload this blog which has come to quite a few words at this point. A funny thing that I should note is that when I look at the horizon, I start to see boats and towers and all sorts of obstacles. When I’m inside the boat I hear birds and boat motors and squeaks and creaks that occasionally manifest themselves into voices shouting at me. All of these are hallucinations of overstimulus combined with sleep depravation and a bit of physical exhaustion at keeping up with the motion of the boat. I keep thinking I’m crazy, but I think I just have an overactive imagination.