Danica I - Log Day 1- Departure Frenzy

Log Day 1 -Departure Frenzy - Thursday, March 7, 2019 - Pacific Ocean - From Galapagos to French Polynesia

" Morning report- Wednesday 06:00 -12:00
o Sunny morning with Puerto Ayora anchorage buzzing with water taxis transporting people to the shore and back
o Minor meltdown on Danica occurred when I discovered a completely flooded sail locker just before 10:00 am. We were planning to retrieve and raise our second Genoa for the Wing- on -Wing sail configuration in trade winds
o We are guessing the latch got loose when we put away the spinnaker weeks ago and we ended up bailing out endless buckets of sea water which came through a not fully sealed portal. When Glen was cleaning Danica's bottom in the morning, he noticed that the starboard side was low in the water but he blamed my shoe collection for this problem.
o To top the intensity of the morning, Captain was busy sorting out our Health Policy for French Polynesia - Thank you, Yellow shirts team for always going out of your way to help and support.
o Maybe we now qualify to borrow the famous ARC 2019/2020 Blue Jacket from Sweet Dreams for a day!!!
o 12:00 -The World ARC fleet crossed the start line of Leg 4 and nothing but blue skies from now on.
" Afternoon Report - 12:00- 18:00
o Sails: Full Main and Code 0
o Wind: 9-11 knots - Current of 0.5- 1.0 knots in our favour - we are averaging 6-7 knots
o Making water -our water tanks are almost empty
" Night Watch - 18:00 - 06:00
o No sail changes
o Wind picked up after midnight - 00:00 and we enjoyed great sailing under beautiful starry skies with about 12 other ARC boats nearby
o Very tired
" Morning report- Thursday - 06:00-12:00
o No sail changes
o 08:00 - Ran out of the Propane gas- Captain removed the old tank and installed a new one he purchased in Santa Lucia. Tedious front locker job, especially when sailing in high seas. Makes me truly appreciate the "Behind the Sails" jobs that are related to this lifestyle.
o 10-13 knots of wind and up to 2 knots of current in our favour; SOG around 8 knots
o 12:00 - Distance measured by SOW - 146 NM