Can't Think of Clever Title b/c Dinner is Ready, Next Time!
27 March 2019 | Doldrums
Catherine
We are on day 12 of our Pacific Ocean crossing from Clipperton Island and we hit a big mile stone, we crossed the equator at around 0 degrees N, 117 degrees W! Supposedly that makes us shellbacks, but I haven't figured out why... does anyone know? To celebrate, we wrote Poseidon a message in a bottle, thanking him for our safe passage thus far and requesting he take pause from his palace of coral and gems and gather his trident and hippocampus powered chariot to guide us through the rest of our passage. We also raised an 11ft rainbow colored squid to the top of the mizzen mast in his name. Hopefully he is satisfied. I think I would be. Overall everything has been going really well... It's been a bit slow (and hot!!) due to an opposing current, the ITCZ, and doldrums, but we fired up the engine for the first time and are powering our way through to an almost 2 knot favorable current, running east to west, and the hopefully strong south east trade winds, which will take us right to Hiva Oa of French Polynesia! We should be out of the doldrums soon and then we can turn off the engine and sail the rest of the way there... I think one of my biggest surprises on the crossing thus far has been how tranquil the seas are (definitely knocking on wood right now!). We had bigger seas during our passage from Ensenada, MX to the Sea of Cortez, and bigger seas from there to the Revillagigedo Islands, while on this passage, we've barely felt the rock in the cabin. Although Slocum would disagree, I do see where the Pacific got its name! (A part of me is thinking about deleting these past sentences so as not to jinx us, but then you wouldn't have very much to read.) We have cast our bets on when we each think we will arrive! Tucker is thinking April 6th, Sam April 10, Nancy, April 14th and I'm thinking April 13th. The winnings are glory. Right now it looks like Tucker is going to win and I think that would be just fine with all of us! I haven't stepped foot onto land since La Paz, MX on Febuary 10 so we have begun our day dreaming of long hikes on mountainous French Polynesian soil, in the mean time, Nancy and I have been getting in some work outs and stretching on deck! We are slowly dwindling on fresh produce, somehow we still have a couple carrots, a few leaves of a cabbage, beets, jalapeno, onions and potatoes. The real life saver on board is whoever decided to bring sprouts! We have freshly sprouted sprouts and they are delicious and fresh! But right now no one is thinking about vegetables because we caught a fish today!! A short bill spearfish! I guess it's in between a marlin and a sailfish and it was absolutely stunning! Now my tummy is hoping it is as delicious as it is beautiful. No doubt it will be because Sam is cooking up a storm and it smells amazing! Well the sun is setting and Tucker is on watch so I think I'm going to go to the cockpit and watch it shine its final rays with him. Things are evolving and it looks like we are going to listen to the BBC Report through our SSB radio and all eat dinner in the cockpit together! Hopefully it's good news in the world today! Love, Catherine