The Sail to The Marquesas: Day 7

 

      So I’m currently sitting in my bunk at about 11pm on Wednesday
March 27. Well, I say sitting, but I really mean holding on for dear life.
This passage has kept us pretty busy between the light-wind sailing and big
pacific swells.

        All the weather reports we read informed us that the trade winds
wouldn’t kick in until we got about 350 miles south of the Equator, so
after saying good bye to the Sea Lions and Boobies (it’s a type of bird
Bobby don’t get too excited), we left Santa Cruz, pointed the boat towards
Antarctica and put up the sails, only to immediately take down the sails
and begin the long process of motoring to find some wind.
        We hit a few patches of wind here and there, and made our way south
to the trade winds. Well, we thought they were the trade winds. Turns out
we were fooled a few times with what turned out to be just a nice local
breeze. But now, here we are, 400 miles south of the equator, and 1000
miles west of the Galapagos, and finally cruising along heading west-
southwest towards the Marquesas Islands. Only 1900 miles to go.
        I’ve had the fishing rod out a few times, but after my last battle
with a Pacific Striped Marlin, I’ve decided to fish some smaller lures. I
know, I’m a wimp. I got two small tuna and two similar sized Mahi, none of
which were big enough to bother filleting. Speaking of fish, I was also
brutally assaulted by a flying fish while reading in the cockpit two days
ago. I was minding my own business when suddenly a kamikaze fish came
flying through the front of the cockpit and into my shoulder, just missing
my head.
        The ocean swells have been pretty big, and rolling under the boat
from the port stern making for a pretty wild and bumpy ride. Sleeping
hasn’t been too easy, but we’re getting by. I’m hanging on to my laptop
with one hand right now to make sure it doesn’t end up on the floor.
        There have only been two constants during this passage besides the
waves, and that is incredibly inconsistent wind, and plenty of squalls. So
much for nice easy trade wind sailing. Good news is we have plenty of
snacks, and no less than half a dozen boxes of Oreos, a case of microwave
popcorn and some Fruit Loops, (thanks to Jan for getting me something
unhealthy) so we’ll survive.
        Some of you may be wondering how I’m sending this from the middle
of the ocean. Quester has a satellite Internet connection, however, it
costs almost $15 per megabyte, so for the next two weeks, updates are text
only. Hope everyone is doing well at home. Big shout out to Murph and his
boys over in the Middle East, stay strong guys. Thanks for protecting our
country.



Ill send another update in a few days, thanks everybody!