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Two Fish - Day 63 A day on board



Being a long passage (i.e. over 2 weeks) rookie, I am learning the tricks of the trade.



1 Provision with fun food

I am now into baking, a phenomenon that is unlikely to continue at altitudes of more than zero feet. I am looking forward to making pretzels and enjoyed baking the Irish soda bread. Also have easy to eat food for when the passage gets ugly.



2 You will get your Sea Legs

As the days pass you do get more comfortable with the motion. I better anticipate the waves shepherding me into the sides of the boat. I have gotten comfortable with sleeping in spurts. I constantly feel a bit tired like I am on the third leg of a long series of connecting flights. Ignoring the discomfort, I focus on the positives. The ocean views, the fresh air, the warm equatorial sun and a nice book are all perks of the passage.



3 Pace yourself

Early in a passage it is easy to burn out. Captains try to stay on top of every detail. Relax a bit. Outsource some. Stay on top of the key issues. I like to have the maximum amount of sail area flying. However, this means I sleep with an eye open looking at the remote display on my iPhone. Not great for resting and enjoying life. Maybe I should take it down a notch?



4 Have fun doing some boat repair

Today we fixed a problem with the vang. One of the vang blocks had lost its ability to rotate. WD40 fixed that problem but I also added a pennant to the vang to shift it to a better location to avoid contact with the extrusion. I hog-ringed a new bit of bungee on the toe rail block. The last piece had been tied on and a strong gust untied the bungee. Gail and I patched some pinholes in the spinnaker. We used sail tape but when I see a sail maker I will have a proper patch sewn on.



5 Savor Night passages

Great time to sit on the back bench and observe the parade of stars. The nights are warm enough that even my thin blood does not require an extra layer. I situate myself away from the bright chartplotter screens and imagine that I am crossing the Pacific in a different era. A Polynesian, an early English explorer or a WWII ship.



6 Use water

We take fresh water showers on the back steps as the seas have been lumpy. There is a large storm far south of us creating abnormally large waves from the east. In the southern ocean the waves were mountains but during their many thousand mile trip to our location that have eroded to hills. We ran the washing machine, which is a must on long passages.



Random thoughts from Gail

Things that have made this passage enjoyable: Audiobooks. I get a headache if I read at sea so I downloaded a few audiobooks before we left. Books and music are great ways to pass the time. Now that we have a hydrogenerator, we can keep the inverter on more. This means coffee and iPhone charging are easy. I started using the Yellow Brick app to send text messages. It is great way to stay in touch with my Mom. I am learning how to better brace myself against the counters in the galley, although I sometimes still need an extra hand to hold the sautee pan on the stovetop.



Notes from the fleet

A few boats have caught very large Marlins. Some were released and some were kept for eating. The largest was reported to be 2 meters long, but I will need a photo to confirm that fishing story. No major dramas on the boats but a few main sails have been torn, a genset stopped working and a handful of autopilots are struggling with the beam seas. Yesterday I found 8 dead flying fish but was not as clever as one rally boat who ate the free bounty. A kid boat used squid that came aboard as a science project. Dissection for biology class and squid ink for art class.


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