In the Zone

It's a gray, flat light day. Good size mixed swell. Variable winds, lots of rain clouds. This is the part of the Convergence Zone that they call "the doldrums." Lovely name.

We've reluctantly come to terms with the fact that we did not get obscenely luck and get to skip this part. (Not an easy pill to swallow, after all the models looked SO GOOD! Sigh)
Weirdness abounds in the ITCZ just like everyone said. Rain pops up out of nowhere, and vanishes just as quickly. We'll catch a lively breeze out of the West?? Which makes no sense.
More than once I've been at the helm, looking around at the sea and the sky, looking at the instruments, remembering the models, and just dumbfounded. I just don't know what to do, to make the most of the nonsense.

We've all decided that when in doubt, just head toward Hawaii, even if we motor.
We do have to monitor our fuel consumption, and regularly check on the engines.
For example, Jeff replaced a belt on the port engine, this morning. We pulled water out of the fuel separators on both engines yesterday. It's part of the deal.

Love and light,
Fair winds!!
~e.

Midnight watch, again

This ITCZ is fickle. We thought we had a great setup for crossing; but as we are coming to understand, things change in the zone.

Where we want to be is just north of where we are. And that sweet spot is moving away. We have wind out of due South. But we simply can not sail north in that. We don't have fuel to just motor for endless hours. The fuel is to use, but it's also good not to use it all, too early.

So in a nut shell, we don't love our available choices. Easr OR West?

We chose to gybe to the west. The course that at least is closest to heading toward Hawaii.

We have a current which seems to actually be pushing us a little north. So that's good... we will run this for a while, (6-8 hours?) and then probably gybe back over in the opposite direction depending on what kind of weather we are experiencing and seeing on the weather models.

As we were setting up for this bit of sailing, we changed sails, (to run the new jib!) then noticed more batten pocket flap repairs were required.

So we did that for a while. Then finally we're ready to bring the main back up.

Meanwhile, some other things got a little funky with some lines, and we had an episode with one of the engines. Alao, our working heading caused a lot of motion and some stuff fell & spilled around the cabin and cockpit... Things got a little hectic!

But 3 educated, clever, capable, teammembers overcame this set of obstacles, with plenty of cursing (Ok, that was mostly just me), diligent effort, clever ideas, careful execution and a few jokes.

We missed dinner, but are staying hydrated, and everyone needs a nap, (which is what 2 out of 3 sailors are doing.)

This is one heck of an adventure.

Love hard, pray harder
(Maybe that's it?)

Love and light
Fair winds,
~e.

Satellite Phone/ Apps (Iridium)

FYI
The iridium device and apps have been a bit "buggy," especially recently.

If I don't respond to text, please try again, it might not have come down.

If you don't get a regular update, please don't worry.
Keep praying, though. LOL

This goes for the Noforeignland tracker, too... it gets its position info from a sat phone email.

Love,
~e.

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

Flying fish musings

These little kamikazes are one of the few species we have had an opportunity to observe on this trip. 

They are these skinny blue & silver jobbies with wing-like side fins. Sometimes we see them onesie twosies, but often we see them in schools (or is it flocks?).

They burst out of the surface as we sail by and skip and glide and even flap and turn and maneuver across the surface, and then smash right back down into the water. 

The sea birds will sometimes ride with us or circle the boat hoping for a chance to snatch one. Torsten has gotten a chance to watch a few dives & misses and even a catch! 

The weirdest bit though is finding them and/or their scales on the deck. I mean, what is up with that? It's nearly everyday... sometimes several times a day. 

I even found fish scales on the floor of my bathroom!! We must have had the hatch open when some carnage occurred. Un-cool. 

One aft ernoon, Jeff and I were sitting in the sail shade on the deck. And I asked Jeff... "Is that...? O.M.G Is that, an Eye-Ball?!" -- Add that to the list of things I never thought I'd say.

~e.

Day 35/8 (part 2)

Here we are on the midnight watch.

The stars are glorious. The waves are pretty tame. The warm wind is coming from behind us!! (Um, finally!) And not only the wind but we seem to have a "tail current" helping us along tonight. The boat is stable and feels like she's stepping out. It's nice!

There's been a lot of discussion today about what's ahead, looking at NOAA's high seas forecast and the information in Skip's email, plus the general excitement about being in the Northern latitudes.

First to navigate is the ITCZ (which we think stands for "Inter Tropic Convergence Zone."

Remember Earth science and the images of the way air circulates around the globe? In bands? And in opposite directions in the N & S Hemispheres.
Ok. What happens when they meet? We're about to find out!
Apparently there are dozens of variables and this zone moves around, gets thick or thin, can be highly energetic or not so much... but generally, weirdness is to be anticipated.

Reports indicate we may have gotten lucky this week and it will be located around 5° N for 50 -100 miles (pretty narrow) and not too chaotic.

So, that's good news. We watch for weirdness as we approach. We are prepared to motor-sail to stay on our course as conditions fluctuate.

After the ITCZ, we are expecting to be in "The Trade Winds" mostly east to west mostly breeze-on, all the way across.

In the meantime, we will take whatever chance is given to do any light wind business (making water, protecting chaffe points, engine room maintenance) Maybe throw out the fishing lines again.

Since none of us have done this before, our imaginations are heavily reliant on other sailor's stories, computer models, and our experience so far. It's part of the adventure!

Prayer and good vibes appreciated!
Love & Light,
Fair winds and seas,
~e.

Day 35/8

It's another beautiful day out here on the Big Blue. Nice 10-15 knot breeze from a favorable direction (color me grateful!)

Sadly, no frozen daiquiris at the equator. Bummer. We may or may not have had a couple sips of the "tribute" rum that we spilled over the side in a traditional gift to the Sea Gods. 

We saw dolphins this morning! So cool!! A whole pod just after sunrise. What a delight!! No pictures this time. I hope we get more chances.

We received a very informative and helpful email from Skip, our shore-based navigator friend. He gave us a lot of good information for our projected route and what to expect. 

We slowed down to almost drifting for an hour or so, to run the water-maker, because it was having a hard time getting just seawater (no air) when the boat was at higher speed. Oh well. Tanks are full again. And that's a good feeling.

love and light, 

~e.

Equator!

Some time after 1:00 am, we crossed from the southern hemisphere to the northern just this side of 148°W Longitude.

It's a much steadier night, more favorable wind, no rain!! Dealing with the swell takes some helm & sail management.

The humidity has changed the look of the starry sky, but it's still amazing! The waning moon continues to rise and later, leaving more dark for star gazing.

The phosphorescence in the water is a source of delight. I got to witness something super cool. I was admiring the sparkles in our wake and along the hulls, when I noticed a glowing form coming toward the boat; it came along side and then back out to sea a few times! At one point there were two of these glowing trails.. My guess is porpoises, but could have been anything.
Love & Light,
~e.