This was the view as we barrelled southward... (Patreon)

This was the view as we barrelled southward down the West coast of Haida Gwaii. I tried rotating this photo to straighten the horizon, but the original photo somehow gives a much more realistic portrayal of the feeling of standing on deck in these conditions. Tally Ho is fully powered-up and heeled over on a broad reach, rolling in the pacific swell. Imagine ~34 tons of boat wildly swinging from side to side under your feet - you have no choice but to keep both knees bent to absorb the movement and stay upright, your left hand gripping the running backstay just behind you. The speed is 8 knots, which is only 3x walking speed - but the feeling of such a heavy mass of lead and wood and canvas and bronze tumbling onwards and down the face of wave after wave gives an incredibly exhilarating sense of force. The land ahead is more of a danger than a comfort - a treacherous lee shore with no reliable harbours, breaking waves visible from several miles away. There are no other vessels on this coastline, as far as you can tell - nothing but the ocean and the wind and your small crew.