S.S. Steel Vendor, 5 July, 1965…
Logbook of Tinkerbelle – Part 6
Monday, July 5
Awoke about 5 a.m. (ship’s time), had breakfast of two cereal bars with raisins (hot and good), and got underway. The sun was peeking through the clouds and it looked as though the day could go either way — cloudy and dreary or sunny and cheery. It went sunny — at least for most of the day.
And the breeze was just right. Out of the south so I could steer a course of 67ºT, and just the right force, 10-13 knots, so that we made good time and yet the steering wasn’t arduous. It put me in a very good mood and I said to myself, “The only thing that could make this day more perfect would be for a ship to come along and pick up my mail.”
About 20 minutes later I took my eyes off the compass and glanced over my right shoulder and there, like the answer to a prayer, was a ship steaming toward me. It was the Steel Vendor and the captain seemed very nice; maneuvered very well so that it was easy for me to get up close enough to take the line for the mail. He asked where I was bound, etc., and wanted to know if I had enough provisions. The crew was out full force, too, many of them snapping pictures of me and Tinkerbelle.
The man who heaved the line for the mail did a wonderful job and had no trouble getting it. I hope it didn’t get too wet in transit. It was a sealed plastic bag so it should have been alright.
I got some pictures of the Steel Vendor but, wouldn’t you know it, the movie magazine ran out in the middle of my shooting.
I’ve been sailing all day and I’m going to sail all night, too, to try and lick this current or backward eddy of the Gulf Stream or whatever it is. Since June 30th for five whole days I’ve been trying to get from W47º to W46º. By golly! I’m going to get through tonight or else.
Tuesday, July 6
Yippee! We made it. We not only got by the treacherous meridian W46, we got almost all the way to meridian W45. What a great day. Only 7½ º more to the half-way point. It was good sailing all day. Part of it in sunshine. The wind is holding at about 190º. Barometer holding up, too.
After going two days and a night on Dexedrine without any sleep I decided to get some sleep early. So we “parked” for the night at about 6 p.m., ship’s time.
Wednesday, July 7
Feel much better today after a good night’s sleep. When I popped up for a look around there was a ship on the horizon to the south, but I guess it didn’t see me because Tink’s sails were down. I’m glad it didn’t come steaming over. Don’t have any more mail yet.
Morning sun shot indicated nighttime drift is now in the right direction — to the east. We’re about a third of the way to W44º.
Had good breakfast of hot cereal with raisins and two cups of strong coffee. Now must get going.
It was good sailing all day. A bit wet at times, however. Today’s run will probably be one of the best of the voyage.
Parked for the night as it grew dark.
Thursday, July 8
Wind now coming from northwest — drifting southeast. This will be OK. Can still go eastward easily. Morning sun shot indicated a 60-mile run since Wednesday morning. Not as good as I had expected.
Barometer dropped about 5/10ths of a point yesterday. It blew some during the night. Now barometer has climbed back 2/10ths.
Have again been receiving time from WWV. Also from London.
Must take a sponge bath today.
Boy! That bath was good. I must do that more often.
About 1 p.m. ship time the wind vanished and Tink has been becalmed since (now it’s 8 p.m. ship time). That gave me the chance for the sponge bath. I also took the opportunity to clean off all the barnacles I would reach. There was quite a collection, but it isn’t too hard to pull them off. The anti-fouling paint isn’t too effective, for some of the barnacles were on it. Goodness knows how many more are on the paint too far under the hull to reach.
I don’t know whether these are really barnacles. They’re more like mussels. I’ll have to keep cleaning them off from time to time.
I had turkey loaf for supper and used the “dressing” Virginia prepared for me. Boy! Was it yummy! Wish I had more of it. She (Virginia) sure is a sweetie.
Hope there’s a nice breeze tomorrow.
Friday, July 9
It remained calm all night, the longest period of calm I’ve hit so far. I awoke at 6 a.m. ship time and now, at last, there is a nice breeze. I must have a hasty breakfast and get moving east.
Kept moving all day. Got a shot at the sun at about 6 p.m. ship time. It showed a disappointing amount of progress. I’ve decided to take Dexedrine and sail all night.
Went through some heavy rain storms in the afternoon. It’s still very cloudy and sort of mean looking.
Had a nice supper of beef stew (curried), beets, and a Clark bar.
Saturday, July 10
Didn’t sail all night, after all. It started to blow too hard for safe night sailing, so I stayed put where I had hove to for supper. The wind was from the west so all night I was at least drifting in the right direction.
This is another cloudy, dismal day. But I’ll have to make the best of it and keep going. Hope to make W41º and W40º tomorrow. Then I’ll be in the 30’s. Oh! Joy!
It cleared up about 1 p.m. so I had a pleasant afternoon. I had hoped that I might get to W40 today because I was making good time, but the evening sun shot showed I was far short of W40. Well, I ought to make it tomorrow. Tonight I’ll be drifting in the right direction again.
I had thought of continuing on all night, but it’s beginning to blow too hard. I must get an early start tomorrow, though. I’ll set the alarm.
Sunday, July 11
(passed 40ºW)
Well, this is the day when we have to enter the W 30s. I awoke (by alarm clock) at dawn so as to get in as much sailing as possible. Looks like it’s going to be another dull, cloudy day. The wind seems a bit strong for comfort.
During the night the wind shifted from west to northwest. The shift has made it considerably cooler, but I’ll be able to reach rather than run. I just hope it doesn’t get so stormy I have to quit and put out the sea anchor. Well, now, up and at it.
The wind was strong and the waves seemed huge (some 20 footers, I think), but Tinkerbelle boiled along under genoa only. The weather seemed very threatening until just after noon and then it cleared up and turned into a lovely sunny day. But just about that time the rudder went “snap”. Brother! This will put me back three days, if not more.
I’ve started a repair job on the original rudder, it seemed more repairable. Fortunately I brought a couple of pieces of hard wood with me, plus plenty of tools, brass bolts, etc., fiberglass, glue, too. I just hope it isn’t too damp to do the job properly.
Shortly after the rudder broke, while I was trying to get organized for the repair job, a wave came along and knocked me out of the boat. I scrambled back. Then, a few minutes later, a wave jostled the boat violently and I lost my balance and went overboard again.
It was horrible to have such a lovely day and not be able to move. I took a sun sight though and found I’m almost up to W40. Just three or four miles to go. Then I’ll be in the 30s and at 37W, I’ll be half way.
When I started repairing the rudder I found some of my important tools had rusted solid, especially the hand drill and clamp pliers. I melted some Vaseline and finally, using it as oil, worked the tools into operation.
The ocean went calm in the evening. Considerate of it to do that at a time like this. I’ve just found a clipping Virginia must have put in this notebook. It tells about Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic. He became exhausted and felt he could go no farther. Then he made a simple prayer: “God give me strength.” From that moment he sensed “an element of spirit” which took control of both mind and body and helped him get through.
I couldn’t have found this at a more appropriate time for the rudder difficulty has left me quite depressed although I’m not in any real danger. It’s just that what is beginning to seem like an interminably long voyage will now be that much longer. The clipping makes me feel better. Bless Virginia for putting it in the notebook. I sure do love her. She’s the most wonderful person I know.
Tinkerbelle and I will make it all right. It’s just that I hate to be so far behind schedule, because I know V. and others will worry. If the rudder hadn’t broken I would have made a good distance that day because I started at daybreak instead of later, as I had been doing.
If I keep on using all the daylight hours for sailing I may catch up a bit on my schedule.
