You Know When You Have Been At Sea Too Long!

Another beautiful sunrise - or is it a sunset?
Must be a sunset since it is front of the boat! 

We are in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on what we estimate to be a 22-23 day passage from the Galapagos Islands to the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia. The passage has varied from calm to rolly so far. The swells have increased as we continue south and the Equatorial Current moves us along toward the west even in lighter winds. However, it also moves us south when we are trying to stay somewhat north until later in the crossing. Several boats are very far south and we wonder if it is their “rally strategy” or if the current has them in its grip.

Washing dishes on deck in salt water because the
water maker is acting up. No showers for a while!

The sailing is beautiful to the point of boring! We are on a port tack and have been for days. There is not much to do except ride along. Of course, I have a lot of hungry “boys” to feed so I am busy in the galley. At least that gives me something to do. I am using my creative powers to come up with little surprises to keep it interesting.

We "caught" this little red fish in our anchor rode, so
we decided it needed to be on a Ritz!
 

A gift from the giant squid! It tossed a flying fish right
 into our head sink through an open porthole one night!

On a couple of days I popped corn so we could watch our two favorite movies: The Horizon and The Chart Plotter! Not much changes on either one of them so no reruns or sequels are needed! The smell of popcorn pepped up the crew and it disappeared quickly. The second time I made it, I made double so they could also have it on night watches. There the movie is: Stargazing! I had forgotten how easy it is to make popcorn in a pan on the stove. And it tasted so much better than any microwave brand. I think in the future on land I will make it on the stove.

The highlight of the days is watching the sunrise and sunset. Always spectacular and even more so when there are clouds around reflecting the pink and orange colors. Thank goodness for digital photograph since I entertain myself with taking hundreds of photos and then screening them for the ones I want to keep. Other than sun and clouds there is little else to capture except our crew in action – or inaction.

Our medium air asymmetrical
 

To humor ourselves, we have a list of things one does when one has been at sea too long. So here it is:

You Know You Have Been At Sea Too Long When:

·         You change sails a couple of times a day for something to do!

·         You are dreaming of a Chick-fil-a milkshake and start looking for a drive-through.

·         You try to speak in French, Spanish or any other language you make up.

·         Men are reading my cookbooks.

·         You start saying: if you don’t stop doing that, I am going to have to stop this boat (car) …

·         Taking in a 40” yellow fin tuna for 2 hours isn’t boring.

·         You start calling yourself by other boat names (as in Mojumbo, Tom) and you scream it out in the middle of the night

Our light air asymmetrical

·         You start telling scary cockpit stories about the giant squid lurking behind the boat during night watches. It throws little flying fish onto the deck to lure the watchman into its grip!

·         You start speaking with every accent you have heard among the foreign fleet and the local populations.

·         You try baking something at a 15 degree angle and have to turn the pan every few minutes. (I hate using the oven because it produces so much heat in the cabin.)

 And there were some more that should not be in print!