One thing we find indispensable at sea is a handy invention that we found a couple of years ago. I can't recall the trade name, but it's basically a very strong rubber strap, about 2 foot long, with a good size carabiner at each end. It's a very handy snubber that we find many uses for, but mainly we use to to keep the main boom from slamming in light winds and big seas.
In these conditions, the main gets back-winded when the boat rolls to windward, the boom swings inboard a bit, and then slams back to leeward. Not only is this slamming hard on the gear, it's hard on our nerves, and just makes it sound like the house is falling down.
By rigging this snubber between the boom and the toe rail, it keeps the boom from swinging and crashing. We like this snubber so much we have two of them, and always have one ready to go in our deck box.
I mentioned we were becalmed this afternoon — the wind just died completely away. We motored for a couple of hours to keep moving and to charge the batteries, but we are limiting our motoring to 2 hours a day, so then we just basically 'hove to' or rather configured the sails so that we would enter the hove-to state if the wind appeared. I don't like to go charging off in the wrong direction without realizing it.
Then we settled down to making some dinner (omelette and salad), and since the wind hadn't returned, had a popcorn and movie night.
By then the wind was picking up so we got underway again still headed due east, now making about 5 knots, close hauled.
Hey, I thought gentlemen never sail up wind‽
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