16th September 2023 – Day 44
Saturday
It is 05:00 and I am lying in my bunk having just come off my watch. Although it has been raining, it is hardly noticeable as we are sailing downwind so the rain falls on the back of your hood rather than your face. You only notice the rain when you turn to scan the horizon (thought I better add that in case someone thought I wasn’t keeping an all round watch). In any case, there were no ships in sight during my watch. My sleeping bag is inside a precautionary bivvy bag. Traditionally laid decks are known to drip occasionally but my berth has been dry. As my bag isn’t very warm, I am also sleeping in my merino long Johns and two merino tops. Occasionally I wear my wooly socks too. I am lying about 2 ft from the engine so it is very noisy but that doesn’t stop me from sleeping. The downwind roll is harder to cope with so I just tend to only nap when it is very rolly. Nome is only about 80 nm away. One more watch for me and we should be there. Apparently the major shock on arriving is to see Tarmacked roads, something we haven’t seen since leaving Ottawa. It will seem like a massive city to us. We have lots of work to do on the boat before leaving her for the winter. That ideally includes arranging the haul out but we need to check how soon it can be done. 13.15 We are heading towards Sledge Island and running on vapour in the fuel tank. The plan is to motor until the fuel runs out, then sail until we are about 20-30 mile off Nome before adding the reserve 40 L. That way we won’t run out entering the harbour. There’s only a few litres of water left too.
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