Nothing exciting to report unless you consider a broken toilet (head) exciting. good thing we have two as the sea state and point of sail are not conducive to boat projects at the moment.
The sea is that beautiful blue color that blue water cruising gets its name from. it is still sunny and pretty warm. THe high that is currently beating us up is pulling up a little of the cool wind from the south. Dennis says we will know we have gotten thru the high when it warms up more.
So yeah, still motor-sailing trying to get to the east as much as possible, wind has gotten stronger 15- 20 kts, but straight from the N/ NE, sigh.... one day i will have a behind the beam crossing - it could happen. haha. Josh knows what I mean. I have to say though that the new side coverings I made for the cockpit are pretty awesome. definitely not pretty, but hey we are dry and that is a major plus. We've been having water over the bow since last night. so score one for me and my sailrite!!
For lots of different reasons - mostly the point of sail we are currently on, we are going to go to Minerva reef - look it up. a place to anchor in the middle of the ocean. Way cool I think. We hope to be there by Tuesday and will stay until Friday or Saturday.
ok, that's us for now. we are hunkered down and holding on for the ride. Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful moms out there. I hope you get lots of hugs and I love yous.
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Saturday, May 12, 2018
Friday, May 11, 2018
day 4 rockin and a rollin
yep I knew it was coming. lol my favourite point of sail - close haul. yah - nahh. at least we reefed the main today - we are way overpowered with it fully deployed - better now. on a positive note it is warming up. Was cloudy early today, but sun is out again now. We are doing okay, Dennis and Paul back on anti seasick medication. I'm doing okay so far. hope all is well out there.
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Thursday, May 10, 2018
Day 3 10 May
Still motoring with the main up. winds still very light. Another beautiful sunny day. Checked the fuel situation -still good only used 1/4 tank in 43 hours of motor sailing. We are all well, catching up on sleep. Dennis actually had coffee today, must mean seasickness is not a worry. I finally caved and had a diet coke - yay bye bye headache. Don't feel like I drink enough caffeine to have withdrawals, but there you are.
Feels a little warmer, must be the north aspect of the wind.? Last night was pretty comfortable on the midnight to 0300 watch. Everyone is in shirt sleeves today.
Crew is being fed well which is probably the only real upside to no wind. I made fried chicken with salad last night and huevos rancheros for brunch today. Thinking I should have brought more fruit - oh well we definitely are not going to starve. Tonight's menu is shepherds pie.
Another positive of flat motor sailing (and did I say it looks like a lake out there?) is that i was easily able to wash my hair - no hot water but still felt good. haha its the small things right?
oh the glamorous life of crossings. Some people have deep thoughts, but not me - I think about what to cook and when to sleep. Kind of refreshing to be forced to not worry about anything but those things. Trying to live in the now and enjoy what we have no way of changing.
yep off for a nap before starting dinner.
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Feels a little warmer, must be the north aspect of the wind.? Last night was pretty comfortable on the midnight to 0300 watch. Everyone is in shirt sleeves today.
Crew is being fed well which is probably the only real upside to no wind. I made fried chicken with salad last night and huevos rancheros for brunch today. Thinking I should have brought more fruit - oh well we definitely are not going to starve. Tonight's menu is shepherds pie.
Another positive of flat motor sailing (and did I say it looks like a lake out there?) is that i was easily able to wash my hair - no hot water but still felt good. haha its the small things right?
oh the glamorous life of crossings. Some people have deep thoughts, but not me - I think about what to cook and when to sleep. Kind of refreshing to be forced to not worry about anything but those things. Trying to live in the now and enjoy what we have no way of changing.
yep off for a nap before starting dinner.
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Wednesday, May 9, 2018
end of day 2
position 33.31.82s, 176.59.57e, course 55T
sunny day and we are settling in, not too much wind so lots of motoring. good way to start, but wishing for about 5 more knots of wind. I know, I know, I want it all. Everyone caught up on sleep today, I finally feel human - just in time for night watch.
It's still a bit cool, we are all in long sleeves and long trousers during the day and bundled up at night. The moon came up last night and looked like a big ship on the horizon. Was pretty bright when it finally decided to come out from behind the clouds.
Not too much traffic out here, saw a freighter yesterday afternoon, and a sailboat passed behind us this afternoon. had a swallow hanging out today - way too far out for him. Paul said he was able to pick him up out of the cockpit. Finally flew off.
Boat systems functioning properly at the moment. the part for the refrigerator and freezer didn't come in time, so a boat coming to Tonga behind us will bring it. So, they are functioning, just have to turn them on and off as they are either on or off - lol.
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sunny day and we are settling in, not too much wind so lots of motoring. good way to start, but wishing for about 5 more knots of wind. I know, I know, I want it all. Everyone caught up on sleep today, I finally feel human - just in time for night watch.
It's still a bit cool, we are all in long sleeves and long trousers during the day and bundled up at night. The moon came up last night and looked like a big ship on the horizon. Was pretty bright when it finally decided to come out from behind the clouds.
Not too much traffic out here, saw a freighter yesterday afternoon, and a sailboat passed behind us this afternoon. had a swallow hanging out today - way too far out for him. Paul said he was able to pick him up out of the cockpit. Finally flew off.
Boat systems functioning properly at the moment. the part for the refrigerator and freezer didn't come in time, so a boat coming to Tonga behind us will bring it. So, they are functioning, just have to turn them on and off as they are either on or off - lol.
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Monday, May 7, 2018
We're leaving!
Tomorrow is the big day. We have a window and ran around like crazy the last two days to take advantage of it. Sadly we will not be stopping at Minerva reef. We have to make as much east as possible otherwise we will have wind on the nose for the last 250 miles or so. Definitely not my idea of a good time. Its disappointing for sure, but one of those choices that come up from time to time. Minerva isn't going anywhere, so maybe next year.
It's about 1000nm to Tonga from here so figure 6 to 9 days. Feel free to email us at wdj9035@sailmail.com and or follow us at www.oceantracking.com using wdj9035 as our call sign. Getting email on a crossing is like getting cookies from mom when you went to camp. The blog is not posting to FB or updating our track and I have run out of time to deal with it.
So why such a crazy day? We've been steadily working on the boat for 10 days right? Well I have been pondering just that as i sit in the marina laundry doing the final loads.. and i guess it comes down to the fact that there is a pretty long list of things that cannot be done way in advance. Laundry is a prime example you do it and then you have to wear clothes or use a towel. Same with fresh food - it doesn't last hence "fresh", filling water, getting duty free fuel, putting the dinghy on deck, setting up the jacklines, setting up the wind vane steering and thats not all of the list. So no matter how "ready" we are, the last days are always a scramble, and if we wait for perfect....... we would still be here in June. And frankly it is too darn cold now.
Yesterday we finished cleaning the hull using our hooka (no not the kind you smoke, it's an air compressor run off a battery so we can breathe thru regulators sorta like scuba but attached to a hose). It was my first time doing it one of those things Josh and Dennis just did..wasn't as bad as I had anticipated, went well. My only complaint was about all the little sea criiters that decided that if the couldnt attach to the boat they would attach to me (my wetsuit). Yikes i had whole colonies ewwww!
So thats us for today. Our appointment to clear out with customs is 9am, and we plan to head out directly after that. Happy Mother's Day in advance.
It's about 1000nm to Tonga from here so figure 6 to 9 days. Feel free to email us at wdj9035@sailmail.com and or follow us at www.oceantracking.com using wdj9035 as our call sign. Getting email on a crossing is like getting cookies from mom when you went to camp. The blog is not posting to FB or updating our track and I have run out of time to deal with it.
So why such a crazy day? We've been steadily working on the boat for 10 days right? Well I have been pondering just that as i sit in the marina laundry doing the final loads.. and i guess it comes down to the fact that there is a pretty long list of things that cannot be done way in advance. Laundry is a prime example you do it and then you have to wear clothes or use a towel. Same with fresh food - it doesn't last hence "fresh", filling water, getting duty free fuel, putting the dinghy on deck, setting up the jacklines, setting up the wind vane steering and thats not all of the list. So no matter how "ready" we are, the last days are always a scramble, and if we wait for perfect....... we would still be here in June. And frankly it is too darn cold now.
Yesterday we finished cleaning the hull using our hooka (no not the kind you smoke, it's an air compressor run off a battery so we can breathe thru regulators sorta like scuba but attached to a hose). It was my first time doing it one of those things Josh and Dennis just did..wasn't as bad as I had anticipated, went well. My only complaint was about all the little sea criiters that decided that if the couldnt attach to the boat they would attach to me (my wetsuit). Yikes i had whole colonies ewwww!
So thats us for today. Our appointment to clear out with customs is 9am, and we plan to head out directly after that. Happy Mother's Day in advance.
Sunday, May 6, 2018
6 May 2018
Rainy day chore day.
After spending all day yesterday fixing the really not broken (air lock) generator, we have another calm as day for doing chores.
Dennis thinks we may have a weather window, leaving Tuesday at the latest. Not sure we can get all the "must dos" done for that. However the next window looks to be 10 days out. We could be in Tonga by then.. email sent to Commander's weather for input.
Honestly though the boat is looking prerty ship shape. Paul has been tireless in completing any task we throw at him. Lots of things checked off the list of "nice to get done". For example floats on the dinghy line, toe protectors on the fittings on the forward deck and the latch fixed on the cupboard in our head.
I suppose the 3am wake ups thinking of things to finish up indicate its time to get a move on.
Will update when we figure out what the plan is. For now. Back to prep work
Saturday, May 5, 2018
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