Vicki
2012/07/29, eastern Atlantic

When the weather forecasters predicted light and variable winds they were exaggerating. The winds were below two knots for almost 24 hours. The water surface was an oily slick with slow, undulating swells. The dial on our wind indicator was spinning around, back and forth, as if it too was looking for wind. We motored, and were bored silly. Then today, right in the middle of baking peanut butter cookies, the wind picked up to 12 - 15 knots. We are sailing to windward. Try cooking when your kitchen floor varies in tilt from 10 to 25 degrees. Sure glad I have the oven belt! Today is baked ham, carrots and parsnips with baked potatoes and real butter! What a treat. I was going to make biscuits, but that isn't going to happen. 321 nautical miles to Galway.

Paul has capitulated on the 'stinkier than you' contest, threw in the towel so to speak and took a shower. Place your bets now, both Gibbs and Al are confidant they can make it ashore before they shower.

Yesterday evening we had another sperm whale sighting. It was slightly smaller than our boat but came within 15 feet. We think it was a juvenile male and here is why. As it went by there was a big brown discharge. A whale of a poop! (Notice how I kindly noted this after and not before the food part.)

Things that I like about this trip: And Al makes four. He brings previous passage experience, crossing from Hawaii to California. He has also chartered in Maine, Belize and the Caribbean. He is an engineer and brings an analytical mind to problem solving. He's the man for foredeck work in rough water, ready to jump in at the hardest task. But the best part is his storytelling. Al has brought much of the laughter to this group. Plus, he is the one with the eye - most of the whale, shark and dolphins were sited by him. When our hardest weather hit, he was alone up in the cockpit, steering down huge waves. When the bow of the boat submarined under a wave and water went flying horizontally, he thought, I have seen this on extreme videos, but it is not supposed to happen to me! He carried on valiantly until Paul and Gibbs came up.

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Vicki
2012/07/28, eastern Atlantic

The good news is we have sunshine. The bad news is during my 7-10 am watch, the winds clocked from 340 degrees to 85 degrees, in about fifteen minutes! Now the wind is right on the nose. It is light enough and waves are small enough that we can motor in the right direction. But that won't last much longer - waves are building. So we will have to sail close-hauled (bumpy ride) and tack back and forth, almost doubling the distance we have to travel. The other bad news, the spinnaker pole attachment at the top came loose and down came the pole. Luckily, it got caught in some lines and did not hit anybody or damage the boat. No more downwind sailing with a spinnaker, but with winds from the east that wouldn't happen anyway! With any luck the wind will shift soon. 440 nautical miles to Galway.

I bought several jugs of juice that don't need refrigeration until opening, but then we drink it all and don't have to worry about it. A couple of them are very tempting:; Deliciously Red and Deliciously Purple, a delicious combination of fruit and vegetable juices. I haven't figured out what a yumberry is but what we really want to know is what is that fruit called 'etc.'? We came up with some marketing slogans: 'Not that bad', 'May prevent scurvy' and 'Interesting alternative to water'. My question is: are there highly trained nutritionists that develop this recipe they follow, or is it just mix together whatever juice is left at the end of the shift, if it is red, call it Deliciously Red and if it is purple, call it Deliciously Purple? These are the highly intellectual questions we ponder as we cross the Atlantic.

Things I like about this trip: Gibbs, Paul's son is one of our crew members. They work so well together as a team, discussing options, figuring out how to get things done. He also brings a remarkable attitude. I asked him after the storm if he regretted doing this. "No, crossing the Atlantic in a sailboat is an experience of a lifetime and that is just part of the experience." He always participates in all the boat chores and is just a joy to have around. I need more of his positive attitude.

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Vicki
2012/07/27, mid-Atlantic

Still grey! Please send some of that Minnesota sun and heat my way! The winds are light and variable so we motored overnight to keep the speed up. Daylight and we put out the spinnaker (too dangerous to fly at night) and are moving along comfortably, if slower than we had hoped for. 540 nautical miles to go. Yesterday we had chicken with linguine that had bacon chunks. Too much linguine, so I saved it, added scrambled eggs and had a late night meal for all of us. Today is roast beef and then we are done with fresh meat. Plenty of canned stuff. The canned chicken and canned roast beef from Costco aren't so bad.

Things that I like on this trip: Dolphins! We are seeing them more and more. They are usually in a pod of around a dozen. But yesterday we started seeing dorsal fins, and they were everywhere! Dolphins jumping out of the water across the horizon. What a treat. I jump up and down and clap my hands, as if they are doing a show of me! And last night, when Al got up, he could hear dolphins chattering. So Paul and Al watched them in the dark - they would leave a white foaming trail. Paul saw the dolphin dive under our boat, come up the other side, leaving a zigzag trail. We have an Audobon guide to Marine Mammals that has been getting a lot of use. We need to get the guide to marine birds next.

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Vicki
2012/07/26, mid-Atlantic

Weather is still gloomy, but warmer than yesterday. Winds are lighter so we are going a little slower. Getting in 120 -140 nautical mile days. Just over 600 nm to go to Galway. Funny thing is, when there isn't a storm, we are safer out here than sailing by shore. Nothing to run into! But I could stand to see land, that will be so exciting. Hope to be to Ireland sometime on Tuesday. Had my first shower so far on this trip. Also first total change of clothing. I can't tell you how great that feels. I couldn't interest the guys in taking a shower - I think we have a stinkier than you competition going on! Things I like on this trip: Besides the wonderful visit with my daughter Tania on the trip to Toronto, I haven't seen friends and family for 3.5 months. I hit a wall yesterday and felt sooo lonely. Which is weird when I am never more than 3 feet from someone else. So I sent out SOS emails and got some wonderful messages back. Thanks to all, I feel more connected.

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Vicki
2012/07/25, mid-Atlantic

Weather is gloomy and greyer than yesterday. But winds are good and we are making good time. We just went by the Hecate Seamount, which sperm whales will do deep dives around for food. Al spotted a sperm whale. coming up for air. quite the excitement. Before dishing out the porkchops yesterday, I had cut-off the bones with some of the meat. Today I am using it as the base for a bean soup. Our refrigerator is small, only about 16 gallons. So buying food for two plus weeks for four people means it was full of basically meat when we left. I bought five dozen eggs, that can go without refrigeration for several days. As we use up the meat, I put eggs in the refrigerator and keep using the ones that are out. Vegetables are either canned or root, that don't need refrigeration. I bought a pound of bacon, but you don't want to be messing around with that hot oil out on the bouncy waves, so I cook it all up while at the dock, wrap it in paper towels and a ziploc and refrigerate it. That way it is ready to use. I also strain the bacon fat and use it in biscuits. yummy. I will add some to the soup to help prevent foaming in the pressure pot. Paul is baking bread right now, the New York Times no-knead recipe. Hot bread and bean soup perfect on a gray day. Things that I like on this trip: life is beginning to feel normal. The first couple of days out were really rough. At one point you just WANT THE MOTION TO STOP, EVEN FOR FIVE MINUTES! But it doesn't, ever. At some point the waves get smaller and your body just adjusts. Everything you do, you time to the motion, without even thinking about it. Gibbs, Al and I all stopped the sea-sickness motion days ago. Paul never has to use any.

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Vicki
2012/07/24, mid-Atlantic

Glory day! Sun has been shining from the get go. I was able to wash a couple of items and hang them up in the cockpit, hopefully they will dry by night. Almost all of my clothes got wet during the storm so I am trying to get clean clothes to wear when we reach Galway. Speaking of Galway, sometime this evening we will be at the half-way point on the great circle route. Double wonderful day! We celebrated with a great meal - pork chops, wild rice with mushrooms, corn and red sweet peppers, and coleslaw. We will celebrate with rum and Fig Newtons at the appropriate moment. We, of course, will make a rum offering to Neptune, thanking him for a good first half of the trip and ask for peaceful passage for the rest of the way. I am continuing to dry out the inside of the boat and doing some cleaning. Oh, and we are flying the bumble-bee spinnaker because we are almost dead downwind with light winds. Things I like about this trip: my captain. I know you will roll your eyeballs and think after all these years, I should know that I like him. But remember, these are extraordinary circumstances. Stressful, pleasant, confining, freeing, all at the same time. And he has three souls on board that are his responsibility. Paul does a good job training and teaching his crew on the finer points of the boat. Everyone contributes ideas and thoughts and he incorporates it in the planning. Planning he is good at. But everyone knows the ultimate authority rests with him. I can't think of anyone I would prefer to have as my captain. (For people not in the cruising world, I should explain that the male is generally the captain with most couples, but the woman is the admiral.)

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