Every day is different… at least in the ITCZ. You’d think that with just water and sky, wind and wave for context, things would start to look the same day after day. And maybe that’s true to some extent, we are each developing into our daily routines. Gavin buzzes around the boat ‘checking’ things between workouts and weather routing. McKay seems to have normalized this crazy adventure into a lifestyle choice and is flourishing. She has become our wind goddess and always gets top speed when at the helm. I mostly lay about in the shade, enjoying the ride.

As Gavin mentioned, we sailed into the ITCZ expecting a smooth crossing, when the forecast turned it into a giant windless wasteland. The reality has been a big helping of both and everything in between. Two days ago we motored (slowly) across a glassy sea, but it was sunny and McKay became a Shellback. Yesterday we endured 3 squalls that came with hours of heavy rainfall. Finally, today McKay used her influence with Poseidon to whistle up a near perfect sailing day with 10-15 kts on the beam.

So regardless of expectation or forecast, everyday is different and presents its own challenges and rewards.