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Days 11 to 15
Days 11 to 15: Continuing west
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Day 11: Another perfect day31 March 2003 - We are now one-third of the way there!!! :) Yet another perfect night of sailing! It was a little bit rolly, but once we got onto a good course with respect to the swell, things were fairly smooth. We were moving along at 5-6 knots with the 3rd reef in the main and our jib poled-out. We barely touched the wind vane after we got onto a comfortable course. For our 24-hour run, we made another century club average of 111 miles. We are looking forward to a 120+ daily log, which would bring our average speed for the day to above 5 knots. Yesterday's average was about 4.6 knots. We are moving right along and VERY happy just to have consistent winds. After our first week of floating around in one place, this feels amazing!!!
This morning we took down the main and put up the staysail to leeward opposite our poled-out jib to windward. It is a VERY comfortable sail configuration once everything is dialed in. It took a little more fussing with the wind vane, but once set, the wind vane has been handling this beautifully. We are moving along at a consistent 5.5+ knots. One of the biggest changes we have noticed lately has been the change in temperature. It had been relatively cool since we left the coast. Then, last night, things started to feel warmer. As the sun rose, it became apparent that it was going to be a MUCH warmer day than those before. We have even started to run the fan a little while we are in our bunk. We're getting further south!!! On that note, we also think we saw the Southern Cross last night low on the horizon. It looks right (matches the constellation on the New Zealand & Aussie flags), but we didn't think that we would be able to see it until after we were definitely in the Southern Hemisphere. We thought that it was more poleward and not an equatorial constellation. We wish we had a book on stars in the Southern Hemisphere. We have one for the Northern stars, but that is going to soon become obsolete where we're heading! Too fun! All signs are saying that we are getting further south and closer to our destination! Even the GPS concurs!!!
31 March @ 16:00 GMT |
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Day 12: April fools1 April 2003 - We are both a couple of April Fools today! Eric woke me (Ang) up for my morning watch (around 7am) with a shout that he could see land! I got up REALLY fast! We should not be anywhere NEAR land right now and so this news put us in a REALLY, REALLY incorrect location based on where we thought we were! I scrambled up into the cockpit, still in a half-asleep daze. He pointed and sounded really serious and worried. I couldn't see anything, but my eyes - still wanting to be closed and in bed - were not functioning at 100%. So I tried to focus again and still couldn't see anything. I told Eric so and started to wonder about my vision or his sanity. I was met with a ridiculously large grin and a loud "April Fools!" Later, just to spite him, I woke him up at the end of my watch with a call that we had finally caught a fish. He jumped up out of his bunk quickly and ran up into the cockpit. Of course, there was nothing on the end of the line but a snicker from me. :) We are still moving happily along with our jib and staysail set opposite of each other. The wind has remained a consistent 12-15 knots from the northeast. The swell has increased a bit and become more confused from a gale that is taking place over in the Gulf of Tehuantepec. That area is a LONG way away (the south tip of Mexico), but the leftover swell has moved slowly westward towards us. We now have swell from both the north and the east. It is pretty jumbled, but still a fairly comfortable ride. Last night we had our first rain shower. We could see it coming our way on radar. It looked like a big smudge on the screen. When it got closer, we put out a bucket to catch some of the water. We don't really need it for drinking yet - we have been doing VERY good on our water consumption! But we thought it would be fun to have some extra to use for a shower. Well, the first rain shower was a joke! It literally provided us with maybe 6 water droplets! The second rain shower was a little bigger and lasted longer, but the drops were tiny. It did clean off the decks and even removed some of our much-loved boobie bird poop... but it didn't do much for our shower water bucket! I guess we'll be stinking a little longer! :) Despite the sad accumulation of rain, the shower was still fun! When the droplets of water hit the surface of the ocean, they produced a tiny little splash of bioluminescence! The entire area around the boat was aglow with the lit-up little splashes! VERY beautiful!!!
1 April @ 16:00 GMT |
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Day 13: Grey day...2 April 2003 - Last night we had several more instances of rain showers. None lasted longer than 10 minutes and the total rainfall was not substantial. The wind stayed at around 15 knots throughout the night - sometimes picking up, veering or diminishing when a squall passed by. There was no lightening near us, but there was some off in the distance to the south. It was far enough away that we could only see, not hear, it. The weather forecast is for the ITCZ to be at around 05-08 N with a band of thunderstorms around latitude 09 N. We have veered a bit further west on our course so that we will stay high of that area a little longer. Our current course of approximately WSW (260T) will take us to around 10 N / 125 W. From there, we will make a course straight for the Marquesas. When we hit the Doldrums, we will motor due south until we are through them and then resume our heading. Our friends on Hoonah, who left earlier than we did, crossed the equator 2 days ago. Merlin's Magic should be there sometime tomorrow. It's pretty exciting! We still have about 10 more days until we can do the same. This certainly isn't the FASTEST mode of transportation out there! :) This morning turned out to be very grey. We have 100% cloud cover with some rain once in a while. It's funny how weather affects the overall mood of the boat. The sea is a grey-blue and both of us are more tired/lazy than normal. We are at the mentally tough phase of the trip. At first, there was much excitement about having left the coast. Soon, there will be the equator to look forward to and then the Marquesas/landfall after that. But currently, 13 days after leaving and more than a week until the equator, the focus is not as obvious. We are at the proverbial point on the journey where the kids in the back seat say "Are we there yet?!?!?" Right now, the answer for us is a big NOT YET! :) We are still having a good time and enjoying each others company. We also got to enjoy our first sea turtle since the coast of Mexico. He passed about 20 feet away from us swimming upwind and against the swell. He's got a long way to go too!! Just after lunch, Eric caught the first fish of our trip - the smallest Dorado that you could even justify eating. We would have released him if it wasn't for the fact that the hook had done irreparable damage. We would rather eat him than have him go to waste. As Eric said, "in this instance, instead of practicing catch & release it is better to practice catch & sauté." Still plugging along!!! :)
2 April @ 16:00 GMT |
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Day 14: Fish story!3 April 2003 - Last night, around 0630 GMT (just after local midnight), we were both down below and keeping our night watches from there. The wind was a good 25-30 knots from the ENE. The ride was quite rolly as the seas were moving quickly from behind us. We rolled in the jib until it looked much like a handkerchief and left up the staysail. There were intermittent rain showers and squalls. There was lightening, though still way off in the distance, thankfully! We hope to never have it too near us. Both Merlin's Magic & Hoonah got through the ITCZ without any lightening near them, so we are optimistic - though we keep our spare GPS and the Sat Phone in the oven when its anywhere nearby, just in case!
Next, we worked on pulling in the other fish. We had to put the line around the winch as he was heavy and did NOT want to be caught. When we finally got him on board, he was a BIG tuna! When Eric picked him up, he guessed that it was about 60 pounds since it was at the limit of what he would want to have to lift! After filleting it into 16 (2 person serving size) fillets, Eric checked its stomach to see what he had been eating prior to our plastic lure. In it, he found a whole 8" fish - looked fresh w/ head & tail!! Unreal! It was obviously caught on the run, as it had been eaten tail first! The fish catching & cleanup were a real mess. After we got the fillets into the freezer, we decided that we had earned ourselves a shower! Later in the afternoon, we enjoyed a saltwater shower & freshwater rinse. Aah... the good life! :) We are doing really well in the water department. It helps that this is only our second shower in 2 weeks!!! From here on out though, we will likely be able to catch some water from rain showers and therefore be able to shower more frequently. What a treat that will be!!! We are obviously being pretty conservative. But after those first few days of no wind & therefore no idea of how long the trip would take, we really did NOT want to be stuck without water for cooking or drinking. Oh what a luxury a water maker would be!!! :)
3 April @ 16:00 GMT |
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Day 15: Almost half way4 April 2003 - Would you ever believe it?!? We are almost half way there! By the time we send this, we should be at the 50% mark! We are hoping that this marks the half-way point for distance but not for time. Based on our daily mileage and average speeds since we finally made it out of the light winds near the coast of Mexico, the second half of the trip (knock on wood) should be more consistent and therefore shorter than the first half. For the last 24 hours, we made a distance of 138 miles - an average speed of 5.8 knots! Not too bad... a great way to make time towards the Marquesas! :) At best, we are thinking maybe another 2 weeks. Wow, when written that still seems like a lot of time. But time seems to go by quickly out here. When we get there, we would love to hear of all the crazy things you have accomplished and done while we've been gone to give us some sort of time perspective. For instance, Ang's parents have left for and will return from a vacation to the Dominican Republic before we return, Eric's sister Emily will have flown across the country to visit their dad and have returned to college... while all we've done is hang out on this 37' long floating island! Well, that & sail across the ocean. Last night was off and on rain (off during Eric's watches and on during Ang's - hmmm). Today has been windy and rolly with 25 knot winds from the NE and 10 foot seas. While it makes cooking and walking around difficult, the boat is comfortable and not even very creaky. We are glad that neither of us have gotten seasick on the trip so far. This seems like the perfect weather for someone to get sick in. We'll keep our fingers crossed that our record keeps up. We had our first really good squall today. We pulled in the jib so that there was only a TINY amount of sail left as the wind picked up very quick. The rain began right after that and came down hard and fast! It only lasted for about 15 minutes, but it was pretty exciting to see. The rain pushed the size of the waves down! No lightening - yeah!!! All is well with our world!
4 April @ 16:00 GMT |
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