4.4.18 @ 1700 Zulú Day #10 Latitude: 13°18 N Longitude: 129°37 W Covered Distance Last 24 Hours: 126 NM Distance to the Marquesas: 1753 NM Distance from Punta de Mita, Mexico: 1096 NM Weather: Sunny with 30% Cloud Cover Winds: NNE 8 Knots Sea State: 1’ – 3’ Barometer: 1016 Crew’s Mood: Upbeat and happy! Now if we could just catch a fish…Wahoo, preferably!
Da boat, da boat! There it is! It’s really a boat. We are not the only souls left on this earth. Oh what a sight to see. Yes, when you’ve been days at sea and have seen no other form of life except for a Brown Footed Boobie or two, seeing a boat in the distance can be very exciting. I am down in the galley cooking dinner two nights ago when Dan, showering on deck, yells out to let me know he sees a large ship in the distance. I’m so excited I drop everything and dash up the companionway to get a glimpse of this magnificent sight. She’s almost seven miles off our portside stern. I pull up the AIS (Automated Identification System) to see what I can find out about her. Turns out she’s a 757’ tanker headed to Chiba, Japan with an approximate arrival date of 4.17.18. She will cross our bow about 3.96 miles ahead of us. I love the AIS! It lets you be Mrs. Kravitz without ever opening the curtains. I just stand in the cockpit grinning from ear to ear, watching her as she motors along the horizon. Who knew the simple sight of another vessel could make me so happy? I guess out here you learn to appreciate the little things. Her SOG (speed over ground) is 16.1 knots. And with that speed, just as quickly as she enters our sights, she is gone and we are back to just us again. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted.
The past twenty-four hours have been amazing! The winds have found us and we are doing some awesome sailing…as we call it, brochure sailing! Today when Dan went down to take a nap we had the spinnaker flying and with 13 knot winds we were hitting 6.5 – 7 knots steady for almost two straight hours. We were zipping along and it was nice. By the time Dan got up we were running in the mid to high 7’s which is just a little uncomfortable and quite frankly unnecessary. This isn’t a race out here and there’s really no need to add the extra stress to the rigging so we decide to douse the spinnaker and throw up the Jib. Even with just that we were in the mid 5 knot range which is just fine with us.
We did hit two milestones today. We are in double digit days and we passed 1000 NM! That put us more than a third of the way to the Marquesas leaving us about 1827 NM to go. Honestly it just doesn’t seem like we’ve been at sea for ten days. I guess once you get into a routine it just flows.
Tonight is another great night on watch. Winds are around 13.1 knots and we’re going 4.5 – 5. It’s a beautiful night with some clouds and the bright 3/4 moon shining above. It seems surreal to be here. I mean, a year ago at this time I was in bed sleeping so I could get up and go to work the next day. I guess it just goes to show, you never know where your life will lead you but if you take a chance now and then, you might just find absolute bliss. I know I did!
Until next time,
Jilly
I bet the sight of anything is exciting when you have only seen water for 10 days. What an adventure!
You kids are cracking out a mighty fine blog. Surely do enjoy it. Must say I never got to see the Pacific from your perspective. More like 22,000 ft. and 315 knots. Gotta hand it to you, you’re the first blokes I know who’ve done this. CARRY ON!!