Allan, Alyssa
03/30/2009, 09 28.5'N:117 49.9'W, 1100 Miles Southwest of Banderas Bay

After a wonderful dinner in the cockpit at sunset running the spinnaker in 12 knots of wind, things picked up quite a bit. Winds and seas increased and as we were changing over to our nighttime configuration of poled out jib and shortened main, hitting 20-22 knots with short choppy following seas on the port quarter... quite the sleigh ride, even if our 6-8 knots through the water was countered by 1.1 knots of counter current. Finally, some serious wind, but the associated seas and current meant a somewhat restless night. The good news is that by now we have gotten used to sleeping on a rollercoaster.

Winds have remained brisk today, with cloud formations becoming progressively more menacing. We saw sprinkles a couple of times last night, and some bigger drops earlier today, but still not enough to capture water or clean the decks.

Using a neat little program called "Yotreps Reporter", available at www.pangolin.co.nz, we are able to get weather reports and graphical position reports from all the boats around us. We notice that several boats ahead of us are motoring at 5 knots in 4 knots of wind at about 6-North Latitude. This is the start of the doldrums and is about 3-4 days away for us. During the 6-700 mile ITCZ, we will motor when there is no wind to try to expedite our way through this area of unsettled weather, frequent squalls and lightning. We can see that other boats are picking up wind from the southern trades around 2-South Latitude.

Watermaker jury-rig has resulted in improved pressure, at or near the 75 PSI required to make water, but still no water. Now considering a freshwater flush to see if that gets things going. -allan

Comments [0] | | More

Allan, Alyssa
03/30/2009, 09 28.5'N:117 49.9'W, 1100 Miles Southwest of Banderas Bay

After a wonderful dinner in the cockpit at sunset running the spinnaker in 12 knots of wind, things picked up quite a bit. Winds and seas increased and as we were changing over to our nighttime configuration of poled out jib and shortened main, hitting 20-22 knots with short choppy following seas on the port quarter... quite the sleigh ride, even if our 6-8 knots through the water was countered by 1.1 knots of counter current. Finally, some serious wind, but the associated seas and current meant a somewhat restless night. The good news is that by now we have gotten used to sleeping on a rollercoaster.

Winds have remained brisk today, with cloud formations becoming progressively more menacing. We saw sprinkles a couple of times last night, and some bigger drops earlier today, but still not enough to capture water or clean the decks.

Using a neat little program called "Yotreps Reporter", available at www.pangolin.co.nz, we are able to get weather reports and graphical position reports from all the boats around us. We notice that several boats ahead of us are motoring at 5 knots in 4 knots of wind at about 6-North Latitude. This is the start of the doldrums and is about 3-4 days away for us. During the 6-700 mile ITCZ, we will motor when there is no wind to try to expedite our way through this area of unsettled weather, frequent squalls and lightning. We can see that other boats are picking up wind from the southern trades around 2-South Latitude.

Watermaker jury-rig has resulted in improved pressure, at or near the 75 PSI required to make water, but still no water. Now considering a freshwater flush to see if that gets things going. -allan

Comments [0] | | More

Allan, Alyssa
03/29/2009, 10 26.81'N:117 15.71'W, 1000 Miles Southwest of Banderas Bay

Another slow sailing day was punctuated by one of the great constants of boating - shit breaks.

Last night, just *after* Alyssa's long and luxuriant shower, I noticed that the watermaker, while on, was not making water. I played around with it a bit, but decided to wait till the light of the next morning to fully diagnose. After yet another stunning sunrise over the Eastern Pacific, I got busy with the very comprehensive HRO troubleshooting guide. After seeing low pressure at the intake, it pointed to an obstruction in a filter, so I started with the seawater strainer underneath the aft bunk. Much to my bitter amusement, the storage area under the bunk was a small lake. After removing floating cans of cleaner, wax and assorted toxic substances, I furtively searched for the source of the leak. Initially I was concerned that finding the source of the problem would takes some voodoo that I didn't know or understand, so when I initially found the water, I'm like.. Cool, at least I can *see* the result of the problem.voodoo curse vanished. As I soaked up the water and felt around for obvious sources of the leak, my thoughts turned to more sinister causes. Under the bunk resides the seawater strainer and high pressure pump for the watermaker. After finding no hose or strainer leaks, I started inspecting the pump itself. I found nothing obvious so I had Alyssa start the watermaker, only to have water gush from the pump weep holes.. Uh-oh. referring to the manual I find that the one item in the entire watermaker that cannot be rebuilt or repaired "in the field" is the high pressure pump. Do I have a spare? Of course not. (see Blog - Late January, Starter, Engine, Spares, NOT! for helpful context)

I pulled the pump apart to confirm the diagnosis, while cautioning the crew on water usage (no flushing? EEEEEWWWWW) Meanwhile, in my head I'm calculating remaining water on board, days to Hiva Oa and figuring out that worst case we have 15 gallons of water each, more than 2.5x recommended daily intake of 2 quarts. Factor in cooking and minimal hygiene and we'll have to be careful, but we are in no danger.

I found that the pump had been leaking slowly for some time, based on the rust marks and peeled paint of the housing, so I have rationalized that if I can plug those weep holes up enough to increase the pressure 20 lbs, we might be able to make water in a pinch until our spares and logistics guru, John Papadopoulos, arrives in Hiva Oa in April. I found large flat head screws to plug the holes and used epoxy to seal them and re-assembled the pump. We'll let it cure for 24 hours and give it a shot.

In the meantime we have taken the following measures:

- First and foremost, emailed Megan and asked her to do one of her famous rain-dances for us. This will allow us to capture rainwater for the tanks - Defer all showers to the great Pacific Ocean daily swim. Surprisingly refreshing with a little soap, not at all like using coastal saltwater to wash down. - All dish-cleaning is by bucket on the transom. Added bonus, don't have to salt the food any longer! - Brushing teeth via the ol'cup'o-water routine - Our fancy freshwater flush toilets have been neutered, freshwater valves closed and a gallon jug of saltwater stationed nearby for flushing - If Megan is successful, we will catch rain by first washing down the deck as the squall starts, then use a towel to dam the water heading to the gunnels to funnel rain water into the deck plates for the water tanks. - Last and most importantly, instituted an emergency water preservation plan by drinking more beer. (Gleaned from the Corey Wurzner Survival at Sea Manual)

Our spirits are high again after the shock of not having an unlimited source of water aboard. Of course, that could just be the beer. -allan

It's the Beer

I think that's the only thing calming my spirits (besides my last *SHORT and SWEET and luxurious shower I got to take before the watermaker broke on *cough* Dad's watch). Nice and clean just in time. I think I'll manage till tomorrow night when the rains are predicted to come and with help of Megan's famous vacationing rain dance. Do it for us Megan! I know you won't be here until June, but just do it for us! Lol. It was a stressful day nonetheless, as I'm getting closer to the need for privacy seeing as my bedroom is the kitchen table in the main companionway. The forward deck has been designated personal space for anyone who needs it. I've already finished two books since I've been here and am onto the third. "The Lost Diary of Don Juan" is my next novel and so far has proven to be quite an adventure but also a quick read. -Alyssa

Comments [3] | | More

Allan, Alyssa, Jan
03/28/2009, 12 02.60'N:115 32.99'W, 850 Miles Southwest of Banderas Bay

Now they are just jumping aboard. We awoke this morning to a hitchhiker aboard, a 3" flying fish, who must have wanted to be part of our sushi lunch. 108 NM made good in the past 24 hours, all under sail. Winds have freshened this morning to 15, so we are moving well between 5-6 knots and preparing for the potential of rain and squalls later this afternoon and evening. Winds are supposed to move to the east in the next couple of days, which means a gybe. Too bad, we really have gotten used to being on a starboard tack. -allan

"Nemo is Nomo" (another movie quote but for the kids this time) Mmmmmm sushi! By far it's one of my favorite foods; my friends should all know this by now. One of the repercussions of catching it yourself, however, is that you have to sleep with your hands smelling like fish the rest of the night. It isn't until the next morning that it wears off with the help of washing your hand with a lemon or lime. It's a useful trick for fishing. Before all the commotion broke out yesterday, I had already started writing a blog, but I figured that was enough for one day. It's titled.

10 Things You Never Care to Mention on a Boat:

1. Shaving.or the lack there of. A sailboat has limited space in a shower and is considerably rocky. Who would've thought? Just don't stare through binoculars at a passing boat, and I'm sure the pretty lady you're staring at is still gorgeous. 2. Smells. Sure it's windy, but with constant squalls, the hatches are usually closed. Never complain about it because I'm sure you'll get caught in the act eventually. It's a pretty long passage across an ocean. 3. Sharks. This rule was broken early in on this trip, so Jan only gets in the water for a brief three minutes after seeing a fish before jumping in. Eh.fish are nice. I'll worry about sharks after the usual middle-of-the-ocean 10-minute rule. Just don't talk about sharks when I'm in the water please! I already know there in it with me! 4. Fresh milk.or lack there of. We're all on the same boat so stop reminding everyone we'll be eating beans and potatoes for the last week of passage. 5. Clothing malfunctions. A tiny bikini is bound to fall off somewhere at some point, so shut up and enjoy the moment of freedom. 6. Sweat. It's hot. Just jump in the water and load on the deodorant when you get back out. 7. Engine noise or slapping sails. What's to do when the wind's dead? Pull a pillow over your head when you're trying to sleep. You'll be surprised how well it works because surprisingly enough it also shuts off the courtesy lights for you :-) 8. Messy hair. With the wind on your side for sailing, it's against you for the beauty contest. Enjoy not caring and sport the bed head look for good. 9. Cocktail hour. We've been dry for a week.good enough excuse for us when the Corinthia asked if we've had one yet. Let us enjoy this one hour in celebration we haven't ripped someone's hair out yet in these close quarters. 10. Ice. The icemaker doesn't set well when the boat rocks.it always rocks, so don't ask why there's no ice in your drink with 85°F weather. -Alyssa

You see everybody is writing on this blog, but I never seem to read or hear stories! Finally this morning I did read and enjoyed them. The question is though are they true stories or not?? I guess you know your family/friends well, so I'll let you be the judge of that. My perception of our wonderful trip might be slightly different.

The Tragic Death of Miss Yellow Fin Tuna.

It all happened so suddenly, she was going for a final nightly swim enjoying herself. Her beautiful big lips were attracting attention from the boys, but there it was an aging pain! What happened she only took a little snack! She couldn't control her self anymore. She almost fainted, but her girl power kept her aware but it was a lost cause against those drunks at the after deck. Ruthlessly she was hauled onto Follow you Follow us and fed with vodka, a victim of murder slaughtered at the galley table. How can I ever enjoy sushi again?

[Just a note. Jan's the one who got the vodka out to drown the fish. -Alyssa]

That's what we call euthanasia in the Netherlands.

[and if it weren't for Jan. we would still have the wrong lure on and not have caught a fish. Jan told us to put on a smaller one so we could have fresh fish for dinner. - Alyssa]

She is getting cheeky our little steward

I started my watch at 05.00 this morning and felt really tired. But once I was out there by myself, the magic came around the corner again. Isn't it great; here you are Jan another morning in the middle of the ocean! Because we set the time an hour earlier, the sun came up around 06.00 and up she came! a splendid sunrise. I took out the reef which we mostly set during the night and sailed the boat myself. Going at six to seven knots and listening to my favored Opera music by Inessa Gallante. How is it that everything becomes more intense, much bigger, more beautiful! At the same time Rina and I have been talking about home. I must confess that I have been thinking a lot about it lately and after 16 months of travelling I suddenly see myself living there again?.......... -Jan

Comments [0] | | More

Allan, Alyssa
03/27/2009, 12 50.39'N:114 39.45'W, 750 Miles Southwest of Banderas Bay

Follow You was enjoying cocktail hour on a brisk run at 12 knots under spinnaker when alerted to the sound of a fleeing fish. Tzzzzzz went the reel as Alyssa jumped to action. After initially fouling the reel, we spent 7 minutes bringing the mighty beast to the stern. Earlier in the day we had a fish on the hook only to lose it in the last 20 feet. not this time. Alyssa grabbed the gaff hook and snared the young yellow fin tuna as it jumped towards our stern and just like that, Follow You had finally caught its first fish, after *only* 1300 nautical miles.

After dousing his gills with vodka, the tuna expired as Alyssa unsheathed the sushi knives. 15 minutes of flashing knives later, it was all sushi and chum. We look forward to fresh sushi for lunch tomorrow. -allan

It has been quite a change from this morning. Good conversation at cocktail hour, as most cocktails lead to commonly. It was an adventure catching two fish in one night! I was skeptical years ago when someone said only half the work is catching the fish. Only now do I realize what they were saying... the other half of the work is filleting it! You have to sharpen the knives so often because cutting through bone is such work (and I apologize for the brusque approach). As much as I value such a beautiful animal, I enjoy sushi so much more lol! Phil will weep at this blog seeing as he caught several fish all of which escaped in the last instances of battle. After only 15 minutes of struggle and kniving, we enjoyed the freshest tuna we've ever had... "Like butta" (Another prize to the next person who guesses this tv show quote!) -Alyssa

ps, congrats to Stan Smith for correctly identifying "Hunt for Red October" as our last movie reference. Free sushi for Stan! (must be present to win, hahahaha)

Comments [2] | | More

Allan, Jan, Alyssa
03/27/2009, 13 16.42'N:114 23.67'W, 700 Miles Southwest of Banderas Bay

100 Miles made good over the last 24 hours, 95% of it under sail, largely due to the light winds. Light winds expected for the next 72 hours, so we will be a little behind our float plan. Higher winds expected in 96 hours where we should make it up. -allan

Stories to tell: Jan Selderijk

We sailed through the night at a leisurely speed of 4 to 5 knots. Wrapped in a towel, I see the pitch dark night slowly turning into grey. The stars stop peering through the clouds. Where have they gone? Is that also the place where our beloved ones went? Then I see her golden beams glowing towards the sky. The sun starts warming up the cold morning. Dolphins enjoy the new day as well. Wow those swells are much higher in daylight!

Just imagine how it feels to jump in an opal bleu ocean 10000 feet /6000 m deep with a temperature of 79 F/24 C!

We are eating a lot of fresh veggies and fruits, but it is a challenge to keep them up for another week. Of course the carrots, potatoes and onions will carry on. As a true Dutchman I brought sauerkraut along, but now I have to persuade the Alexopulos family to eat them with mashed potatoes and frank further sausage.

Laying in my bunk, I listen to the sound of the creaks and cracks. Water is slashing to the hull. Listen. to the wind in the sails. Just as the tall ships in all the stories I read as a boy. They brought wealth to The Netherlands in the 16th/17th century with spices from the east. You can still see it in Amsterdam by the rich design of the houses along the ancient canals. Did you know that the reason to have a small pepper mill is the price you had to pay for it? So far to day, we keep living the dream! -Jan

Really - no- *really* learning to sail your boat

While in the Sea of Cortez I wrote of the expanding nature of time and space, as we decompressed from the buildup to the Baja Haha and the departure of the crew in Cabo. Over the last several months, we more or less achieved a balance of sailing/chores/planning/sightseeing/socializing that was enjoyable and balanced. A month sailing the gold coast below Banderas Bay, always on the hook was followed by several weeks in the Marina, for example. Kicking back in Barra was balanced by our increased intensity as we prepared for the jump to the Marquesas.

Now 7 days out, we are exploring some previously untapped areas. Even while not sailing on a schedule in Mexico, we still had a plan, which meant creating float plans predicated on constraints like winds, arrivals in anchorages during daylight, etc. We had very few sails that were truly open ended, largely due to our own designs. With the incredible space of 2800 miles, no vessel sightings in 5 days and just the 4 of us, it has dramatically changed the dynamic of sailing, at least for me. Our new constraint of limited fuel means we sail until it is just too painful to continue, usually when the wind drops below 4 knots and the combination of sea swells and sails slapping themselves silly gets the better of us.

We have all the time in the world to learn how to tune the sails to milk every last 10th of a knot out of the boat. Adjusting expectations so that we are happy and relaxed coasting along at 2-3 knots is a *completely* new experience, and I must say, an enjoyable one. We are learning new things about this boat and how to sail her well, anticipating the effects of little wind shifts, the constant pacific swell patterns, and to set her up for quiet yet efficient running at night. Feeling the wind pick up before the knot reader shows it, listening to the now familiar sound of water on the hull and using that information to know how fast the boat is or will very shortly go is what you get when you have unlimited space and time.

While Rina the OSHA safety officer is ever present, I notice a slow unwinding of her hyper-vigilance as she becomes more comfortable at sea. Having Alyssa aboard has been a great facilitator as well. We can't wait until Megan joins us in a couple of months. -allan

Sunscreen keeps the red away.

I always panic when Dad asks if I want to blog again. Like I almost have a lack of thoughts to fill a blank page, although I know that's not true. The thoughts are there, but not completely relevant when it comes time to blogging. I always think of something but never have my journal at the ready to scribble it all down. So blogging is a bit harder today. Not much has happened. We sailed all night with 5-10 knots of wind to fill the sails. The spinnaker has been holding pretty strong since this morning though. I've been more "interactive" working the lines and putting up the spinnaker with Dad. It's making me think about continuing to sail when I get back to Santa Cruz. There were classes at UCSC, but I'm sure there's only a sailing club at Cabrillo. The difference I'll have to overcome is, of course, the cold weather there versus the AMAZING warm, blue waters of the South Pacific. I haven't been able to escape the sun just yet (oh darn), so my tan hasn't had a problem appearing. don't worry, Pep, I'm using tons of sunscreen! I can't wait to see you guys when we reach the Marquesas. Megan, you're gunna love it here! Miss everyone! -Alyssa



TGIF!!

It's the finish of our first week! TGIF! This trip so far has been an adventure.not just the sailing, the provisioning, the cooking, the cleaning, the patience of everyone, and did I say "cooking"? My latest challenge is that we've run out of bread..so what to do, what to do..you bake it! So last night I made a shrimp curry with rice, Raita(cucumber salad with Yogurt), and Naan(Indian bread).the challenge.baking underway has a whole new meaning. How do you keep 2.5 lbs of flour from dropping off the counter onto the floor??? How do you keep the bowl with rising dough from flopping (or not rising due to the bumps and rolls)? Well it does work, the Naan came out beautiful (of course the dinner was good also), but tonight we are having meat & potatoes, and Foccacia. We'll see how it turns out.until tomorrow then. Miss my Megan! Love to everyone. -Rina (OSHA Safety Officer, still on duty!!)

Comments [1] | | More

Allan, Alyssa
03/26/2009, 14 02.62'N:113 12.13'W, 500 Miles Southwest of Banderas Bay

Our sail yesterday was picture perfect, with winds on the beam and "set it and forget it" sail handling with the whisker pole on the jib and full main. The wind died with the sun, however, and we motored most of the night. Jan gallantly made a go of a jib only sail on his watch and was able to maintain 4-5 knots for an hour or so before the wind subsided to 3-4 knots.

Alyssa and I had the sunrise watch from 5-8am, with Alyssa's eyes glued to the east horizon and mine closed, tuned into my Ipod playing a long forgotten episode of "This American Life". Watches have become pretty routine, as we have not seen any other vessel in 4 days. We scan the horizon 3-4 times an hour, listen to music (much to Jan's chagrin) and read or talk. Rina reminds us to stay at the helm however, because, the autopilot can do a "crazy ivan" at any time, where "otto" just lets go and the boat does a 360 degree turn. special prize to the first person to email us with the movie reference. (Family and Corey not eligible)

Late in the morning the wind rose gently to 5-10 knots, so we raised the spinnaker for the first time since leaving Banderas Bay. It took all our concentration to keep the sail filled, with hand steering and one person manning the sheet full time to pull it in when slack so the sail would not end up wrapped around the rigging. After an hour or so we were able to tune our technique so that it stayed full most of the time. Unfortunately the wind also clocked to the ENE, meaning that we were headed just barely NORTHwest, not SOUTHwest. Doh! At 4 knots over 4 hours we gave up barely a mile and a half of southing, so no big deal. We will jibe the sail over after lunch if necessary and head due south with the current winds, which are still only 6-10 knots. Weather shows these same conditions for the next several days so we are recalibrating our expectations for some slooooow sailing, as our budget of fuel for this portion of the trip is about 75% exhausted.

When the wind finally took a break around lunch, we decided to take a time out from sailing and go swimming, take showers on the stern and do a check of the hull. We have been warned about white tip sharks in the open ocean, so we followed the 10 minute rule. That is, GET OUT in 10 minutes or you are pressing your luck. Alyssa and I jumped in, followed shortly by Jan, with Rina on lookout. I donned mask and flippers to swim around the hull checking for growth. As I looked under water, I got the chills.. SO blue.. And you could see a great distance, but there.. Was.. No.. bottom. (We are in water well over a mile deep. No sea life that I could see either. Alyssa proceeded to frolic while I inspected the hull, finding nothing but some small growth above the waterline on the port side. Light brushing removed the budding gooseneck barnacles, which, if left untouched, will grow 2-3 inches in a week or two. After about 8 minutes, Rina starts noticing silver flashes in the water. I looked around and sure enough, schools of fish had decided to come check us out. No sharks, but all of a sudden we were surrounded by fish. Where there are fish. there may be sharks. so out we went.

After a nice tuna ceviche tostada lunch, we pulled the spinnaker back out and are now making 3-4 knots southwest towards our next mark, back on track. During lunch the wind had increased ever so slightly and moved around to the North, allowing us to make progress to the South once again. -allan

Finally some salt water! Yay! I get a chance to jump in the ocean. You'd think I'd already done it seeing as I've been here since last Wednesday, right? Nope. We went from the marina (like the "dirty dirty delta" *cough* my close ski clubbers should know I'm thinking of them?) straight into our 24 hour shifts of sailing, so I'd yet to jump in. Thankfully the winds died down even too little for the spinnaker to fill, so we decided to take a break. Dad had done a little research and, to our luck, you have to watch out for sharks (specifically the oceanic whitetip shark aka. Carcharhinus longimanus) after only 10 minutes of being in the water. I didn't think much of it until nine minutes after swimming mom yells that there is something big swimming next to the boat. I laugh and dad was still scrubbing the side of the boat with his mask and flippers. Jan was the first one out of course haha and then I start climbing the ladder telling dad to take a look with his mask. "That's a pretty big fucking fish!" And our swim was over. Our boat was surrounded by dozens of fish for the next hour, mostly mackerel jumping I think away from something, while seagulls dove for the schools of flying fish everywhere. After hardly seeing any sea life like that, I just dropped my fishing line into the water. From what I hear, fish have only gotten caught on this pole when whoever's manning it is away from it (*cough* Phil!) so this was the perfect time to blog. Wish me luck!!! -Alyssa

Ps.. No fish yet Phil! Your record is safe.

Comments [4] | | More

Allan, Alyssa
03/25/2009, 15 17.10'N:111 46.48'W, 500 Miles Southwest of Banderas Bay

Well, we were going to take a blog day off, but then we got a bunch of email saying "Where's the blog!?!?!?!" We stand corrected.

We continue to have comfy sailing during the day, with nice beam reaches in fairly calm seas, averaging 5-6 knots, with blast up to 8 or 9 knots. The sails are well balanced, making life easy on the autopilot. The only human corrections required are when the wind cycles through more than 20 degrees, which it does every couple of hours. Winds are still from the North, but predicted to become North-Easterly by tonight. This will be the beginning of the Northern Trade Winds, which should be more consistent. However, if I look out 96 hours out, down at 9N/118W, winds are predicted to die way down. Because we have only motored for 25 hours since our departure, we have more fuel than expected at this stage, and can motor through any areas of low/no wind. Our fuel consumption is about .75 gallons/hour, so we have only used about 18 out of 230 gallons aboard. We expected to use double that by this stage.

-allan

Chapstick, Anyone? I swear.only 10 minutes after our blog entry yesterday we saw more dolphins, only this time it was bright enough to see the whole pod jumping just beyond the boat. It's not like coastal cruising where you see dolphins all the time. Surfing in Manresa or down south in San Onofre you have wildlife around you all the time. In the middle of the Pacific, I'd just say it's rarer considering how much space you have to cover to find Whales or dolphins. The dolphins never got very close because of how unfamiliar we are to them whereas the coastal dolphins like to race boats along the bow. Breeding grounds and more food on the shelf keeps them pretty close to shore. Nevertheless, plenty of squid have found our deck a perfect landing strip in the middle of the night. This morning dad found 3 not much bigger than a tube of chapstick stuck to the deck. I've been enjoying sailing very much (so far that is haha). Maybe I'll look into the Intro to Oceans classes at Cabrillo. I never realized how much I used the Internet until it was gone, go figure. -alyssa

Comments [0] | | More

Allan, Rina, Alyssa, Jan
03/24/2009, 16 44.25'N:109 55.30'W, 350 Miles Southwest of Banderas Bay

Passage Update: After 3 nights at sea we have set into a rhythm, our sea legs starting to emerge and night watches coming a bit easier. We motor-sailed last night due to light winds and batteries that were depleted 40%. Our battery monitor may be confused however, as the solar is keeping us in good shape, with no net power usage during the day. Even in cloudy weather we are making 12 amps, which more than keep the batteries full. Our genset remains cranky, with an intermittent coolant temp sensor, which I will spend some time working around today.

A big thank you to the people who have sent us email and comments facebook. The only thing we CANT see is comments on the blog, so either email us - using text only email (no html) and keep it short, or send us Facebook messages, which we get via email.

Ben, to answer your question, when the seas are rough like the other night, you don't sleep much until the sleep deprivation catches up to you, and then it's EASY. It's amazing that your brain can suppress flogging sails, loud motors and other sounds around you when it needs to. Then as you awake, all those sounds come flooding back into your conscious. -Allan

Crazy Beautiful Sea Wind, no wind, a sailing contradiction of terms. Seas, no seas, can be a sailing impediment. Blue, so Blue, it's a lonely color blue really, nothing in sight for miles and miles. Sea life, where are you, there's so much ocean to cross, we are looking for you. Silent nights, loud days. Simply put, it's a crazy beautiful place to be. -Rina

Crayola Crayons ? I saw more flying fish today. I've always wondered why they were made to fly when there's really no purpose beyond awing those who see them for those few brief moments. Mother Nature never ceases to amaze me on this trip.We're nearly 1/5th of the way to Marquesas and the water is already 76°F. Let me repeat that.the PACIFIC OCEAN is 76°F! Hot tub anyone??? It is so clear and so deep, like a transparent version of the Crayola Ocean Blue colored crayon. Perfect. There's nothing in sight on the entire horizon (about 35 miles in any direction) and it's been that way for the past 3 days. I can't wait to see whales and turtles. -Alyssa

Hello Everybody, Isn't this great? Dreams come true! Lot's of dreaming time as well. There are some strange birds out here flying around all by themselves, but then again there are some strange birds sailing here as well! Megan, it is great to be out here with your family, but we are thinking of you! Take care. Lots of love/ Veel liefs, -Jan

Comments [4] | | More

Alyssa
03/23/2009, 17 55.9'N:108 17.7'W, 247 Miles Southwest of Banderas Bay

So our first couple days of passage have been, as expected, pretty rocky for me. Big thanks to Josie and Phil for the Meclazine; it has helped me tremendously. Besides that, the weather is amazing.only last night did it get to a bone-chilling 67 degrees (how terrible haha). It was quite a trip to wake up after the first night and look around and see nothing but water. I've been accompanying my dad for night watches, and, with no moon, you can't see a thing! Luckily this morning just before sunrise we saw dolphins swimming along the boat playing in the ambience of the whitewater. Natural little algae light up when there's any disturbance in the water. It looks like there are green stars in the water at night. Hopefully I'll get to go fishing today if weather permits. The boat has to go below 5 knots in order to fish, and from the sound of it we're making pretty good speed (6.7 knots in 12 knots of wind). I applaud mom and Jan for their amazing meals underway even in some prett y big swells. Just ask Jan how blue he is.

Comments [0] | | More