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.

Day 34/7 take 2

Well! That was quite the little rant... my apologies. I took a nap, I feel a little better. LoL

I've decided not to call those clouds giant towers of bullshirt, anymore.

But they are still out there and require constant sail trim and helm adjustments. 

And this swell from two directions at once is still especially irritating when the waves converge under the boat and thump or slap against the underside. Scares the crap out of me everytime! LoL 

So far my stern words about manners and appropriate behavior are having no effect. Sigh. So, I'll adjust my heading and sailtrim (Again) and hope for a smoother ride.

But on the bright side, It's been sunny (if humid) for a few hours and my foulweather gear is dry and ready for another night watch. (Pic of me trying not to get scorched by the afternoon sun) by the time I send this we will have clouds overhead, promise.

In other news, we are running out of South Latitude!! We'll probably cross the equator tomorrow. I'm hoping there will be a little touristy spot for pictures and souvenirs; ooh! and maybe daiquiris! * That would be fun!

I'll let you know! 

*this one time my friend and I were out hiking and she kept talking about the strawberry daiquiri machine at the top. (It wasn't actually true. But it got us there with no rest stops!)

Love & Light,

~e.

Day 34/7

The past many hours have spent, um, sailing. But like actively sailing. LoL. Not really cruising... 

The weather and seas are energetically confused. 

Big stupid rain clouds.

Mixed swell and wind waves on top. 

The boats movement has been like a damn tossed salad. No. Not really. It's really not that bad, but it is a bit bouncy, and noisy which is not ideal for efficient forward progress....

Here is a picture of a big stupid rain cloud. So not like winne-the-pooh's little black raincloud

Peace & love & Light

~e.

Day 33/6

Aloha! 

It is a spectacularly pretty day out here on the Big Blue. 

A charming 10-12 knots with SPARSELY scattered white caplets and scattered smallish puffy white clouds. (I bet it's a pretty satellite image.)

We are gently pulling our hulls across the surface, trying to ease along this swell. We are all working on a bit of a sleep deficit, Jeff especially. So if I have to fall off our intendend (but less comfortable) course for little bit so he can get a few solid hours rest... so be it. 

Last night, after we brought the mainsail down to the first reef... a typical nightly exercise to run slightly depowered through the dark solo watches. As we were trimming the sail we noticed something sticking out. (Which even if you don't sail, you would think was weird.) A batten (a long fiberglass rod that is sewn into a pocket in the sail and runs 90° off the mast...) had busted out of its pocket and was sticking out behind the sail.

Ugh. Gotta fix it! So, dark o'clock maneuvers again. We drop the main down to where the offending batten is laying on the boom, roll up the jib, fire up the port engine and head east (nose of the boat into the wind, so the sail doesn't try to flop around). And get to work. Deck lights, head lamps, gloves (stupid unpainted fiberglass) harnesses and tethers, we wrestle this thing back into its sleeve, then Jeff gets out his sail repair kit and starts sewing a patch on the busted pocket flap-thing. My guy has SKILZ! An hour or so after we just wanted to reef the main sail, we are finally sailing again. Hahahaha. 

Jeff enjoys this kind of thing. Solving problems as they come up. No big deal. Just do it. I guess it appeals to his sense if independence. Me? Meh, not my fave. But then again, whatcha gonna do? 

After my midnight watch the stars were still phenomenal. I pulled out a sleeping bag and settled on the "bench" in the cockpit . Jeff and I watched the thin cresent moon rise. And I slept there until the morning sun started baking me ... just like a pig in a blanket!!! Haha.

Love and light,

Fair winds

~e.

Notes from Midnight Watch

The wind has pickup to a nice steady 12-15 knots. The wind direction allows us to head North, but not very well NE, and maybe not as speedily or comfortably as a more favorable direction would. 

But we are Doing The Thing! We are sailing across an ocean! We are courageous wayfinders. (I'm very grateful not to be a bold explorer. I think the stress would kill me.)

It was the perfect catch for ocean-to-table dining. 

(Wanna hear something silly? Right after Jeff landed and fileted his fish, I went to go sit in the shade on the bow, with a book, and -- I got a fish, too!! LOL There was a flying fish that got stranded on the net between the hulls. Poor thing.)

We are learning by observation and testing more about the ship's batteries, how they charge and discharge, how the reporting panel measures and shares information. 

It's a good thing that Torsten has been doing so much research on boat batteries and that Jeff is a terrific power engineer. They know a LOT. (And I totally don't.) Speaking of which, I better go check on some things... brb. 

All is well. 

Fun fact: 

Fresh tuna blood glows in the dark. 

Wanna know how I know? There is a dirty zip lock bag on the table over there; it had a 1/2 of a fish in it a few hours ago. Gross, right? Anyway, it's sitting there GLOWING. It's like from Scooby-Doo or something.

And with that, I'll say goodnight! 

Hasta mañana!

Love and Light,

~e.

Hana Paa!!!!

Fish on!!!!!