There has been zero wind the past 24 hours. I am floating in the definition of the doldrums. I was awake most of the night because of the heat and rolling of the boat. I fell asleep about 4:00 and woke at 6:00, just after dawn. I could immediately feel something was different. I went to the cockpit and this was my view. The sea was still glassy smooth from hours without wind, but a 5 kt breeze had returned, along with squalls. A large squall was passing in front of the boat. It was unlike others I had seen. It moved slowly, more like a dense cloud that had collapsed onto the surface of the ocean. I resisted the urge to raise the sails, knowing what wind there was was coming from the storm and was unstable in speed and direction. As I type this the wind has shifted 120 degrees, from easterly, fooling me into thinking the easterlies had returned when I woke up, to southwesterly. With bare poles, there is still enough windage on the boat to react to the weather, and the bow of the boat turns to face the storm as it slowly passes, as if looking enviously at the wind it is producing. The forecast is for little wind the rest of the morning. Then, fingers-crossed, enough of an easterly breeze to sail south to where the real wind is.
