Early Days and Sleepless Nights

I wish I could have written sooner, but as most of you probably know, the first few days out are pretty hard. It isn't just having to get used to being in the middle of the ocean alone but also trying to troubleshoot all the little problems and figure out power consumption and all that.

So far things have gone well. There hasn't been much wind during the day, and I've been getting a few hours of 15 -20 kt winds in the afternoon. I think I've been out here three nights and so far I've found that I sleep just as much during the day as I do at night, just napping here and there. I'm pretty far off shore so I haven't had a lot of shipping or any other boats.

But even without that, keeping the boat up requires being up at all hours of the night. I really need to start working harder at sleeping, the long hours of no sleep are beginning to catch up with me and I'm feeling pretty tired. I'm 15 miles off Guadalupe Island and going about 3 knots. Not the best speed, but for there being only 4 knots of wind its not at all bad.

Saturday morning was pretty crazy with people and press everywhere. I hardly remember any of it, it was all just a blur... I was told that that morning would all be a blur, and several people told me it would be like getting married. The wedding analogy didn't help me with what to expect a whole lot... but I guess I'll have some idea what a wedding is like!

The first day was pretty hard, but things are getting better, I'm sorting out my charging and getting a handle on everything on board.

Thanks for all of the comments and emails. I'll start answering your questions in my next blog.

Abby