Throwing Rainbows Darts
18 June 2022
• (3.12w,79.51w)
by robin
The dart shaped rainbows sliced in the towering clouds off Punta Mal. This morning it was still grey so no rainbows. The wind started to shift on my morning watch soon I was headed more and more toward the coast of Ecuador. While the port of Esmereldas sounds beautiful it is not on the route to the Galapagos. Our new friends Freydis call on the radio but cannot not hear me so any discussion about tacking (turning) was out of the question. I decided to skate along the line of clouds to see if it improves where we are going. This morning when I was beneath the long grey line with occasional rain I could sail south so why not chase a squall I spent a little over an hour making my way south using the squall line as a highway with good wind. Eventually I could not keep up with the cloud and its good wind. it was moving about 15 knots I was moving 6. Back to sailing to Esmeralda. It would be time to tack at the change of watch. I made Dutch apple Pancakes to celebrate turning westward to San Critobal. Karl came on watch and we tacked (turned putting the sails on the other side of the boat). A huge Nazca or Masked Booby circles us as we turned.
On a sailboat/apartment, tacking means changing the angle you are living at. Some things we forgot about went flying. One ipad in the sink maybe with a broken off charging cable. Cupboards that were easy to access when we were heeled one way are booby trapped on the new tack. Open the medicine cabinet and who knows what may jump out at you. Each cabinet has 3 inch tall lips but sometimes on one tack you forget life on the other. Always an adjustment. One berth is perfect for napping on the starboard tack (wind coming over the right hand side of the boat) with our world angled 15-20 degrees to the left. Each roll of the boat presses you securely in the cushions⦠on the new port tack each roll threatens to dump you on the floor. Yes an adjustment. After the tack we cross the squall line one more time, the barometer shifts and the sun comes out.
A hurricane is building off the coast of Mexico, obvious in our weather maps as a rotating red blob. We are lucky the hurricane is no worry for us. But I do hear from Anne the young woman scientist leading the expedition in that region. This storm will be her third for this cruise but she says it is going well. She says lots of instruments sent to the bottom of the sea to record the popping air bubble the ship makes. Given Marie Tharp new got to lead an ocean going expedition is makes me smile to see women like Anne leading major expeditions.
By sunset Mabel it throwing her own rainbows as the sun catches her bow wake. Dinner after dark was at a quaint pop up café off the coast of Ecuador. Chez Karl was illuminated by the folding solar light hanging over the helm (steering wheel), the fresh Panama peppers were crunchy in the Chili, seating at the café was intimate â�" side by side on the windward (high) side and as a plus almost nothing went flying except a single tortilla chip. The ghost bird danced over the dark waves for us.
Bird Note: A Nazca or Masked Booby is huge compared to our familiar northern gannet. Big black and white wings and white face staring at us.
Ocean note: the waters have cooled here to 27C. More comfortable.
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