Day 18 04/10/11

EQUATOR DAY!!!

1745 2241 miles, heading 224T

Crossed the Equator this morning at 0515. Everyone including Josh got up for this once in a lifetime event (you only sail across it the first time once). I managed to get a blurry picture of the GPS at 00.00.000 - pretty cool. It was Mark's watch, so the rest of us went back to bed for awhile after that. More festivities were planned for later in the day.

On Day 17, we ended up turning on the motor. The first time in 2 weeks I think. Made water all day. Had some rain, basically a nice routine kind of day. Watches are easy with the motor on, no sail adjustments to worry about just hanging out with "baby Jesus" (the autopilot).

The wind had come back up when I got to my watch this morning, so off went the motor and up went the spinnaker. We are making 4-5 knots with 5-10 knots of wind from the ESE, big long period swells - pretty cool. After breakfast of Waffles (Josh's request) we ended up taking down the spinnaker and heading on more of a reach with the genoa and staysail out. I got the dough ready for lunch - PIZZA!! During this, Josh was making his crown and Trident for our Equator celebration. I cannot wait to post the pictures - very cool and funny. We drank mimosas and opened the gift from Doug and Carla (s/v Moondance). YUMMIES inside - chocolates and Tequila!!Thanks a million guys. We all dressed up in hats or flowers and pareos. Josh was King Neptune with long hair and white beard (shaving cream)and Trident. So we are now all officially "Shell Backs", having crossed the equator physically (I guess flying doesn't count). After our little celebration Vickie made personal pizzas for lunch. Thanks to Patrick and Laura on s/v Just a Minute for the dough recipe, it was awesome. Tonight we will have chicken enchiladas. I am doing them on the stove top, and so far I am under impressed with how they are turning out - too wet. Will be more like enchilada soup, but oh well it is still slightly cooler for the main salon than using the oven. We will toast with Agavero and call it a good Equator Day. The only thing to mar the day thus far was that the raw water pump on the engine crapped out when we turned on the engine around 1530 (wind was dying). So Dennis spent an hour or so fixing that. In the meantime the wind came back up, so we are still sailing and the pump is fixed.
Only 750 miles or so to go, less than a week!!! I can hardly believe it, but seriously can't wait to walk on land!!!

day 16

1982 miles, will pass the 2000 mile mark today yeah!!!!! Calmer seas today, which of course means dying down winds and hot hot hot, and humid, humid, humid! We have turned as south as possible for our run to the equator - chasing any possible winds there might be. We should be at the equator Sunday morning ish. It is funny you wish for calmer seas, but then you wish for more wind - oh well, no free lunch. Speaking of which, we are eating cabbage in salad in every way imaginable. I am hoping that there will be some other green leafy that we can afford in the Marquessa's. We listen to Jimmy sing about Cheeseburgers in Paradise, and we begin longing for them, then we calculate what the probable cost in US dollars (rumors are $45 US dollars) will be and start wishing for a fish on the line! So far no fish. Had two hits today, no fish and down one lure - bugger! Capaz used say if you rant about something, you had to rave about something else. So, here are mine for the day. Rant - I AM SO TIRED OF ROCKING & ROLLING. Rave - the sea is such a beautiful blue, and the R$R means good boat speed. Okay it is out of my system. I expect that when we finally get to landfall that I will have a major case of land sickness. You know why sailors had such a bad rap as drunks, you have to drink to make the land hold still...... or at least sway in synch with you. Any ideas for dinner? I am thinking maybe lasagne.... We'll see.

day 14

hot and humid today. passed 1750 miles. Lots of wind today, made a consistent 7 knts. Replaced the errant water pump on the generator and successfully ran the generator and charged the batteries. I have to say, Dennis made it look easy.
Saw turtles the last couple of days, seems weird to see them out here in the middle of nowhere. We see more birds than I expected to as well. And inquiring minds want to know what you call a group of flying fish while they are flying, a flock or a school???
Is hard to believe it has been 2 weeks. Josh and I commented to each other that we have sailed more on this passage than we have in the whole rest of our lives. Certainly things that used to seem intimidating - the spinnaker for example- are now pretty much no big deal. I guess practice does make perfect. We are using the Hydrovane for steering instead of the autopilot which is pretty cool, and uses no power. The rocking and rolling is still a pain for cooking and sleeping, but otherwise is just another part of the day.
No rain for a couple of days which is nice because it gets pretty stuffy in the cabin when we have to close everything up.
Otherwise, pretty quiet here....

day 13

1560 miles - passed the halfway point. We spent yesterday putting up and taking down the spinnaker, and babying the generator. Got a decent charge, and some good spinnaker time in. Certainly feel like we are in the tropics. A body acclimates to humidity right?
Today we have been flying the spinnaker again. Big rain cell missed us this morning, and we were able to hum along at 8 knots on its outer edges - cool! Josh has been getting some school done and has finished a couple of novels. Otherwise we are ready for landfall, but can't think about it too much cuz we have at least 10 more days to go.

Day 11 Boobies 2, Evergreen 0

Well, Day 11 is coming to a close. The last 2 days have been very different. Day 10 dawned sunny, hot and calm. It felt very tropical. I spent the morning after my watch putting grommets in the mesh panels I made to attach to the bimini to provide shade. The wind picked up in the afternoon, and we flew the spinnaker. Got good speed and a comfortable ride. Late in the afternoon we were joined by a Boobie (with green feet not blue). He hung out on our lifelines until he decided to poop inboard instead of outboard - straight into the cockpit. At that point he received a blast from the hose and flew off - straight to the radar dome. Well boys being boys, out came the pellet gun, then the sling shot and finally a knot in the end of the spinnaker halyard. All that was achieved was peanuts on the deck and a hung up halyard. Boobie 1, Evergreen O. That night at dinner time we actually got 3 fish on our lines. All Bonito, all small. We did offer one to the stupid Boobie, but the fish was too big.
I had a moment and agreed to leaving the spinnaker up at least through my watch. Well, it seemed to be going okay, but the winds were building. After reading email from Brad (s/v Capaz Seattle Wa) who is helping us with weather routing. Dennis decided to bring down the spinnaker and reef the main. Thanks Brad and good call Dennis. Started raining on Vickies watch and Mark got us up for a possible squall at 0430ish. We pulled in the genoa, put out the staysail - winds picked up pretty good, but otherwise no problems, other than trying to sleep in a boat that is rocking and rolling.
This morning I spent my watch in the rain. Winds maxed out around 25 knots. Thankfully it was not cold, so I was wet but comfortable. Dennis turned the generator on around 0930, and thus began our day long project of trying to make the generator behave. My understanding of it is that the raw water cooling pump gets vapor locked/doesn't have a good antisyphon valve or something. So Dennis installed a secondary line that we could pump to draw in the water to prime the pump. Worked fine motoring, at anchor and even sailing 2 days ago. However today we discovered that it definitely does not like bouncy seas. After much angst and pumping and turning off and on of the generator, Dennis installed an electric pump to his secondary line and it worked quite well - when we were on a starboard tack. As soon as we changed to a port tack - it quit drawing water, which leads to the generator overheating. We did get some battery charging in, but think the generator won that skirmish. Keep in mind that we had lots of wind, off and on rain and big bouncy seas all day, so maybe it was really mother nature that won, cause we were pretty wiped out by the time we called it quits.
During dinner (no fish on the lines today - didn't put any out) a Boobie tried to land on our Mast head. Unfortunately the windvane up there is not meant to support Boobies. The Bird got his foot tangled in the fins of the vane and after much sqwuaking got loose, but bent up the vane pretty bad. Boobies 2, Evergreen 0.
It is bedtime now, we are mostly dried out, the stars are out, the radar is clear and we are hoping for an easier day tomorrow. I'll let you know.........

April Fools

We've turned back!!!! Just kidding, actually jibed to the SSW during the night. The wind that pushed us along so well for the last 8 days finally petered out last night. We had two awesome spinnaker days though and have passed 1070 miles. So we are currently limping along at 3-4 kts wing and wind heading about 190 degrees T. At least it is a comfortable ride.
Yesterday was a very good day for all the crew. Seemed like everyone was well rested and needed to get energy out. So we cleaned the cockpit, shook rugs, swept the main salon and kitchen, did laundry and had showers. We looked like a real cruisers boat with all our skivvies hanging on the lifelines! Had 2 fish on the lines - Bonito. The first came during breakfast. It was very small so we threw him back. The second fish hit as I was making dinner and we were preparing to take down the spinnaker. Would have made a pretty cool YouTube video. Turn off the burner, Dennis goes to the line, Mark to the helm, Vickie to the cockpit, Josh and I to the foredeck to take down the spinnaker. Mark turns up, Vickie runs the sheets as I drop the spinnaker onto Josh who gathers it all up so it doesn't go into the water. With the Spinnaker under control, Josh goes back to help Dennis with the fish. Another Bonito (not our favorite fish) bigger this time, but not enough for 5. So we let him go too. We have decided to keep the next one as long as it is not way small. Almost anything tastes good in fish tacos. Today is quieter, my 2 goals - make water and write the blog post. Check off both.
We listen to Ham radio nets daily. Mark has 2 he likes in the morning (Amigo and Sonrisa) and one in the evening (southbound) and then we all listen to the Pacific Puddle Jump net that comes on at 0200 zulu (GMT). Dennis was the PPJ net controller last night. There are 16 boats now that check in with their position, weather and sea state every night. Is kind of like the old days when everyone gathered around the radio to listen to news. It is our daily contact with other people. We hear where they are in relation to us, and what the weather and sea are doing at those positions. Is also good to hear voices of people we know. The earlier nets also have weather on them which is useful as well.
Now that we are finally somewhat rested and into the groove we would like to put on paper (so to speak) some very heartfelt thanks to some folks who made this cruise possible and leaving La Cruz less painful.
To Nancy Gray - Thanks for teaching me that cooking outside of the home kitchen is not only possible, but can have variety and be interesting as well.
To Bob Gray - thanks for being so patient with our mail, and to both of you for teaching me how to enjoy the great outdoors. You are the big brother and sister I never had.
To Bill and Tracie on Zephyr - thanks for the sewing machine needles that made the front awning possible and for loaning us the water filters to fill our tanks.
To John and Gail on Music - thanks for GNTs, dinner, US cash, flags and help.
To Lisa Foley - thanks for the walks, cold water and diet cokes - you always seemed to show up when I needed you most. We are also so appreciative of the Mega and Costco runs!
To our favorite "mule" Uncle Henry - thanks for bringing down all the things we forgot!
To Doug and Carla - too many things to list, but hurry and catch up hey? We hear yucca on the beach calling!
To Steve and Ana - quietly there in the background all these years with sage advice, or cutting humor or a cold beer.
To Sue, Ken and Anna - for making room in your home and lives for us. No small deal and no amount of Thanks will ever be enough.
To all the rest of you who put up with our crazy life, we love you and thank you for your support and understanding of our crazy dream!!!

Only 1700 miles to go and once again we will prove that the world is round, we'll get there!

March 3,2011

Day 7
860 miles out heading about 250 degrees True. Winds 10-15 NNE. Spinnaker went up on my watch this morning. Dennis was happy. We are making 7-8 knots mostly comfortable ride. Are using the autopilot and the windvane together to keep us on a somewhat steady course. Has been hard to get used to steering in a general direction but mostly to the wind. Will take it down before dark. We have had cloud cover for the last several days, it is comfortable, a little cool at night (read long pants, t shirt, sweatshirt and jacket with hood for me). The wind continues to be consistently inconsistent 7-20 knots NNE. Days are good, but nights have been hard for me. I have the best watch schedule 07-10 & 19-22 too bad I can't get a full night's sleep. Oh well, naps are good.

Have I mentioned how blue the water is out here? The color is so amazing, such a pretty deep blue. Have had one flying fish and 2 squid land on the boat, but otherwise no extra passengers. The birds (boobies?) keep eying us, but so far none have attempted to join the party. Have only seen one floating plastic container - was kind of insulting to see and also a reminder about plastic and what a far reaching effect we have on our environment. Our plastic garbage bag is getting fuller, but not too bad. Is still hard to throw the biodegradable stuff overboard, Dennis still can't do it.

So, since it really is all about the food, here is an update. The lettuce lasted in the cooler until yesterday, so 7 days; pears/mangos are being eaten up daily as they are getting soft (wrapped them in newspaper), apples and tomatoes are doing fine, eggs too, but need to drill holes in the lid so they don't go moldy. Will have our first visitors bring powdered eggs to Tahiti, so I will be able to bake without buying expensive eggs. I wish I had brought more lettuce, cucumbers, onions,carrots and potatoes (all of which seem to be holding up well)I should have brought more pancake syrup, and probably more milk, we seem to be going thru a lot of milk..... Oh yeah, and the grill is so not happening. Besides the fact that it is tipped on its side, I don't think I could keep anything on it. Have had to rethink some of my meals, but hey flexibility is my middle name these days. The other thing I wish I had gotten more of, but don't know where I would have put is the Italian sausage from Carne El Mundo. Had the last of it in spaghetti sauce last night. YUM! Will have to start making bread soon, will probably coincide with an increase in the outside temperature!

Started the second tank of water yesterday, so not too bad - about 8 days, 6 with 5 people. Flushed the water maker today. Don't plan to make water until this tank runs out, then we will just work off of the aft 2. One in use one being filled or filled. I am trying to accomplish one non watch/cooking/sleeping/eating thing each day. Yesterday I downloaded music to my ipod - really harder that you would think. Charge the computer, find the cds with mp3 music, figure out how to download to itunes, lock up itunes, consult the 13 year old, download cds to computer then to itunes then to ipod - miracles do happen. Now if I could figure out how to put a movie on the ipod....Feel free to email me with a solution....
Well, almost time to start thinking about dinner.....(eat, sleep, watch, cook, repeat....)