PPJ Day 17
18 April 2016 | The Pacific Ocean
Vandy
Today was a wet day. This morning, we had a five-hour-long squall (is that still a squall?) with rain, wind, and some large waves that lifted, tilted and slapped SCOOTS continually. Later, we had several localized squalls that blew through, dumping copious amounts of water on us. The previous night, rain had sneaked into the open small hatch that opens onto the cockpit, making a big wet spot in our bed, that soaked through sheet and topper and mattress before being discovered. Our clothes are always damp, from rain or perspiration. And even after drying on the lifelines for three sunny afternoons, our clean clothes still feel damp. It's wet here, and I'll just have to get used to it.
But it bugs me that I have no way of thoroughly drying any of it.
I spent about a half hour with my blow dryer, while we were running the generator, drying off the layers of our bed. Then I left the damp spots open to the (humid) air for the rest of the day. That worked pretty well.
We're continually opening the hatches...closing the hatches...opening the hatches...closing the hatches, riding a tightrope between letting the air in and keeping the rain out. I would prefer to close hatches whenever a squall wanders close by, just to be sure that everything is buttoned up when it starts raining. Eric would prefer to leave the hatches open up until the very first raindrops start falling. I would prefer to have a little less ventilation time, to minimize the chance of our stuff getting wet. He's the opposite. So we have that little jitney going on, too. On my watches, I close the hatches whenever there are squalls nearby. I assume he leaves them open until the last minute when he's on watch.
Today I saw a Tahitian petrel and a masked booby. The petrel was a new bird for me. I still don't know what all the shearwaters are. I spent some time looking in my North American field guide, which lists some offshore birds, and also my Pacific birds book. However, there are even MORE kinds of shearwaters listed in my Pacific birds book, with all of the usual nondescript plumages. So I think a shearwater will have to land on SCOOTS and tell me what it is, in order for me to be able to identify it.
We also saw a frigatebird soaring high overhead today, which is VERY exciting. Do you know why?
Here's a tidbit that some of you might find interesting...every morning at around sunrise I try to listen to the song Jupiter, from The Planets by Gustav Holst. I've always loved this song, but now it evokes for me the power and playfulness of the sea around me and SCOOTS making her way upon it.
Deck Check: no critters; if they had landed on our deck, they would have been washed off, blown off, or rained off Miles in 24 hours: 160, for an average of 6.7 knots Total miles: 2530 Miles to go: 373