"Half-sail!" I figured out, the slower you go, the worse you get. When Hong Tao returned to the bridge, he took Carroll's place and took the helm again. He's not afraid anymore, or if he doesn't think about it, he's not afraid, he should hang himself up. But before he died, he had to hone the driving skills he had learned. For example, Hong Tao slowly figured out an experience, that is, the slower the boat, the more turbulent it is, and the easier it is to be lifted by the waves and thrown to the bottom.

The westerly wind belt is not always stormy, just as the windless belt is not always windy. After struggling with the bad sea conditions for more than 7 hours, the wind gradually decreased, and they were accustomed to the rhythm of 30 knots of strong winds, and now the wind and waves on the sea surface have subsided a little, and the three of them feel as if they were in the port.

"Rada, you take the helm, I'll cook. Hong Tao is also tired, more tired than tossing in bed for a day and a night, and his two arms are the same as if they were not his own.

If the wind is not strong, it will not be visible at all, once the sail is full of wind, even if there is a pulley block using the principle of lever to reduce the force arm, the operation is still as laborious as dragging a half-ton board truck on the bridge. And it's not to stand on the flat ground to operate, it's to stand on the deck with an inclination of more than 30 degrees, the standing is unstable, the strength of the waist and legs is all used to maintain the balance of the body, and the pull of those sail ropes is all by virtue of the arms.

But tired and tired. You still have to eat, and the more tired you are, the better you have to eat. Otherwise, the body will not be effectively replenished, and there may be when the gale will come again. When the time comes, I won't be able to eat anymore. Now Hong Tao regrets it a little, he really shouldn't have run out to play a round-the-world voyage with three people, if there were five people taking turns to fight, he could still rest and rest. Three people are really too few, especially two women, but fortunately, they are both strong enough, and their psychological elements are strong enough. If it is replaced by Tan Jing and Ah Shan, Hong Tao estimates that it will be enough for the two of them to save face if they don't let themselves take care of them.

Before dinner was finished, the wind was strong again. It was already more than 10 o'clock in the evening, and Hong Tao blasted Carol and Rada into the cabin, telling them to hurry to sleep and come to pick up their shifts six hours later. Now it is not a question of whether to sail at night or not, but it is necessary to sail at night, and under this kind of wind, anchoring is suicide. At this time, Hong Tao began to be proud again, if he hadn't spent a lot of money to install a GPS positioning system, he would have driven it alone. I also have to calculate the route on the chart, which is really busy.

With this system, you only need to look at the coordinate degree on the display, although the positioning system at this time is not as perfect as that of later generations. It can't show route changes, let alone automatic navigation, but just keep an eye on the coordinate changes every half an hour. You can accurately determine the direction and speed of the ship. For a small boat sailing on the vast sea, the effect of these two numbers can be even more than three or four experienced old sailors. It's no wonder that technology is the highest productivity. Absolutely.

"Tomorrow I will call the lawyer and ask him to inform the shipyards in France. My ship has to be refitted! No, I want a new ship! I designed the cabin myself, the structure had to be reinforced, it had to be changed to the rear deck bridge with two steering wheels on the left and right, the bridge had to be integrated with the GPS system, the mast had to be strong enough to install a bigger antenna, and there was a fucking rain shelter! If it had a hairy use, Quan Nima would dismantle it for me!" Hong Tao stood alone on the deck, looking at the dark sea, no one chatted with him and could not smoke to relieve his boredom, so he could only mumble to himself. He is not very afraid of being buried at the bottom of the sea, but he can't bear the loneliness, his mouth must move, even if he dies, he has to die by talking.

Jon's ship, after more than two months of personal experience, how to say it? There is no problem with the long voyage, the comfort, safety, speed, and endurance are all good, it should be said that it is a good ship. But this ship is not suitable for sailing in too many winds and waves, which has a lot to do with its original design ideas, and it is very troublesome to change it on the basis of the original, so it is better to build a new one.

Why? First of all, this damn left-hand rudder design is just deadly. At the beginning, I still admired Jon's ingenuity very much, if it were now, he could kick Jon off the ship! If there are two steering wheels on the left and right, whether it is on the port side or starboard, there is always a steering wheel that is in the high position of the hull, where the line of sight is the best, and it will not be disturbed by the waves. Where is it like now, let alone smoking, you have to wear goggles at night, otherwise a wave will be slapped on the face, you have to rinse your eyes with water, and before you finish it, another wave is coming, where is this Nima Captain, this is a prisoner in waterboarding!

Taking such a big risk, I can't pretend to be happy, the main thing is that I can't pretend to be forced under the shooting of the stern camera, which is resolutely unbearable and must be changed!

In addition, the design of the cabin also made Hong Tao not very satisfied, there were too many bedrooms. According to Hong Tao's personal experiment, two bedrooms are enough, 2 or 3 women can cope with it, more than 4 is a nightmare, get Nima four bedrooms, 6 or 7 people, he doesn't know where Jon got so much confidence, or is he talented? Tear down the extra bedrooms, don't need to increase the cabin space, increase the fuel tank and fresh water tank, and get the remaining displacement to the hull, without particularly affecting the speed, the stronger the better, even if the ship can pass through Cape Horn, there is a Cape of Good Hope waiting for it.

There is also this GPS system, which must be made original, and the wiring and waterproofing must be done. The problem of installation is too big, one is how to fix the radome on the mast, and the other is the waterproof and anti-corrosion of the line. These two problems are probably too difficult to renovate on this ship, and a new one is the most suitable.

If you have a thought in your mind, you will not be so sensitive to the external environment, no matter how strong the wind is, it will be whistling, and no matter how big the waves are, it will be a slap on your face, and you will forget it when you get used to it, and your face will be numb. In this way, he walked while thinking, and six hours passed quickly, and when Carol and Lada came up from the cabin to replace Hong Tao, he had just thought about how to carry an extra jet ski at the stern, and he didn't feel tired at all.

But as soon as I returned to the cabin, my whole body was like a power outage, my arms and thighs were sore, and I didn't take a bath, so I only took off the waterproof clothes outside, and fell asleep on the bed, and within three minutes of my head on the pillow, the small snoring and the sound of the waves crashing against the hull became a duet, very rhythmic.

This is the rhythm of the sea, the real rhythm of the voyage. Usually those images in movie magazines are only one-sided, white hulls, bikini beauties, beer, champagne, sunlight, blue water, and a cigar in your mouth...... Those things are only stored near the sea, like buying a luxury sports car and driving it around the city and showing off a beautiful woman.

If you want to go on an outing by car, it's best to swap out the sports car and replace it with a big motorhome, where you can still play with a right hug. But when you want to travel far, for example, if you want to drive to Xizang, you still throw away the sports car and RV, drive a real four-wheel drive off-road vehicle, what shock absorption and comfort do not matter, bumpy and hard work all the way, all day long pondering is that the car does not break down, eyes are wide open, for fear that there is a big stone or big pothole on the road, to the destination tired like a dead dog, if someone can change with you to drive a little better.

But when you have run one or two such long-distance trips, you will gradually become familiar with this feeling, and you will not feel too tired and scary, and you will no longer be afraid to squeeze together with those big cars, and you will no longer be trembling when climbing those steep winding roads, whether it is driving skills or understanding of cars, you will improve a notch, and the most important thing is that you may have a lot more understanding of life. Now Hong Tao is going through this process, from the short distance near the sea, to the long distance, to the small wind and small waves, and now it is a strong wind and big waves, it is said that there are still strong winds and waves waiting in front of it, step by step familiarity.

The route from Puerto Montt to Cape Horn is only 2,000 kilometers, basically in the westerly wind belt, it can't be said that it is windy 24 hours a day, anyway, two-thirds of the time, the Crazy Mouse III is really like a mouse that has been chased by a cat desperately to escape, pulling a white line on the sea, stumbling south. After more than a day of adaptation, now the three people on the boat have passed the fear period, watching those wind and waves are no longer nervous, they are all tired, blowing, shooting, anyway, that's what happened.

As soon as the fear was removed, the waves began to snort again, and the mainsail was full...... The rat ran out of 19 knots! I looked, the hull was very strong, it was no big deal, and then I raised the nose jib! 21 knots...... Hey, this time it's a bit of a galloping feeling, the speed of the ship plus the wind speed, has blown the sail rope whining, the hull roll angle has reached 37 degrees, in the case of the starboard side eating the wind, the port side of the steering wheel is almost Nima walking through the waves, who wants to live the South Pacific high-pressure pure sea water SPA addiction, go to the steering wheel to stand.

At an average speed of 17 knots, it was still a day and night rush, and it took only two and a half days for the Mad Mouse III to approach the 55th parallel, and a few dozen nautical miles to the south, it could turn east and sail towards the Drake Passage. According to the weather forecast provided by Lada, in the next two days, the wind near the Drake Strait will be at least 10, accompanied by heavy fog, which is not a good time to cross. (To be continued......)