June 28, 2006

Ship s Log
June 28th 2006
Departure Location: Arholma, Sweden
Departure Time: 9:00 hours
Distance Traveled: 38.44 Nautical Miles
Arrival Location: Lilla Nassa, Sweden
Arrival Time: 18:00 hours
Weather: Surrounded by storm clouds throughout the afternoon. Intermittent light showers. Moderate to heavy winds from the South/ Southwest

Personal Comments:

This was one of the most exciting sailing days thus far. From the early morning to the end of the day we battled strong headwinds on a consistent beat through narrow passages. Towards midday the wind was so strong that the boat would continually broach (this means that the boat heels over far enough that the rudder actually rises out of the water so it is momentarily impossible to steer and the boat naturally heads up into the wind). For the first time some of our crew showed signs of sea sickness. Thankfully none of it was too serious. A few hours before coming into harbor we reached open sea and added large rolling waves to the already strong winds. At this point we decided to reef the jib (by partially drawing in the sail). The waves not only made it difficult to stay on course, but also threw things all over the cabin. It was an intense few hours but made for some great pictures.

After 6 hours of rough sailing we reached our evening port, which turned out to be nothing more than a small outcropping of rock rising out of the ocean. Bill spent much of the evening sitting on the highest outcropping on the island reading the Iliad. He said that it was one of the most beautiful places that we have seen and we all had to agree.

Research Comments:

Because of the rough weather today there was little time for discussion and even less time for theorizing. More thoughts on Vinci and Homer’s works in general will have to wait until tomorrow.