Poseidon read a book. It was a signing Time one, so he is very familiar with the words...I am an instructor and Laralei watches them endlessly if you let her. We dance around and sing the songs. Anyhow, it is simple sentences, but he did it. All by himself. :) He also started adding and subtracting thanks to some good games on his tablet. Though, now he steals Laralei's tablet and her coloring program and she takes his math program. She is either lucky, learning, or about 70% accurate...or some combination of all.
We saw another merchant heading who knows where the night before. Either we are too boring or they are too asleep to talk to us. And, we have seen three Transpac boats. They were all still pretty close to each other, so too close to call...only two days out anyway. But, best of luck to Pipe Dreams who was kind enough to meet us on Channel 10 so that we could ask why all the boats. For some reason, I have Transpac down as a fall thing. That would be the Newport to Ensenada. Oh well, I can't always be right no matter how much I hope to.
I am getting the laundry prepped...linens are going in bags to go to the coin machines at the marina after I kick everyone off. Hopefully, I will only have to do one round of loads with enough washers. I think I have about 5 loads of our clothes so that will be a two day process non-stop in the Splendide. But, I can handle that. It's seen worse. Ah, to a clean boat in 72 hours.
That is it for today. Oh, and we are under 300nm!! I am writing this one on the day, instead of the next as: a. Poseidon READ! :) and b. This will probably be our last HF out before we are pierside. I will keep writing them, but they may be posted the usual way, via internet. Yes, that thing that we have been without for so long.
Position at Writing: 31.56.612N 123.01.967W @1745 13.7.13
13.7.13
Day 21 - Hanging with Laralei
So, my blogging has become a routine apparently. I was chastised by the one year old for not sitting at the nav table and typing with her the one morning I wrote while still on watch. She sits next to me while I clack away. She brings her tablet, plunks it down and starts up (or continues) Super Why. I feed her jellybeans on the lid of the container while munching them myself. She tries to help herself to my coffee or tea. I move it to the other side out of reach. She tries to reach and ends up typing in the process. Then, she wants to push keys on purpose. She has a keyboard on her tablet case. That is not good enough. I have to delete a few random characters and occasionally find chunks of words that went missing when she clandestinely pushed an arrow key while proofing. I will miss this. Maybe they will blog with me when we get back. That may make it less sporadic. We will see. Eventually, I will give Poseidon access here to update once he is able. That should prove quite amusing, but guessing it is a few years out.
Stiff breeze at our backs and running in. Time to go make dinner.
Position at Editing: 31.56.814N 123.01.939W @1752 13.7.13
Stiff breeze at our backs and running in. Time to go make dinner.
Position at Editing: 31.56.814N 123.01.939W @1752 13.7.13
Day 20 - Knitting with Bread Pudding
Knitting by red headlamp is entertaining, especially when you are doing reversing panels on a pillowcase. They ended up beautiful though. Nine anchors on each side of a pillowcase using a soft sporting weight yarn in "tapestry." It's really a pale rainbow. Oh, it was made with yarn, not bread pudding.
The bread pudding was, you guessed it, made in the pressure cooker. It was quite tasty and sat well in my belly warming me up on watch while I knitted. Watch has been cold with piercing winds. Bundled up to the hilt, I am still at the point where I wrap a blanket around my legs. We are running 6-8 at night though, so I will take the chill. The days have been slow, but I think part of that is how close we are getting ot San Diego, things are starting to drag out. The good side is that I feel like I have been able to get more done in the hours I have.
I am almost done reading the first of the Percy Jackson series to Poseidon and Laralei. They are enjoying it this time. We read it to Poseidon when he was ten months old. Completely uninterested. If we don't keep reviewing the classics, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. These books are a nice intro. Debating on Hunger Games...we'll see. Great modern twist on Rome's demise. Read all three books on consecutive watches. I don't know how she elicits such a vivid picture in so few words, but she does. If Tolken had had that art, The Hobbit would have been 1/3 its size. Don't get me wrong, I still love it, but it is a bit word heavy. Panem et (insert knitting here in latin) :)
Position at Editing: 31.56.281N 123.04.655W @1733 (up one hour to Pacific!) 13.7.13
The bread pudding was, you guessed it, made in the pressure cooker. It was quite tasty and sat well in my belly warming me up on watch while I knitted. Watch has been cold with piercing winds. Bundled up to the hilt, I am still at the point where I wrap a blanket around my legs. We are running 6-8 at night though, so I will take the chill. The days have been slow, but I think part of that is how close we are getting ot San Diego, things are starting to drag out. The good side is that I feel like I have been able to get more done in the hours I have.
I am almost done reading the first of the Percy Jackson series to Poseidon and Laralei. They are enjoying it this time. We read it to Poseidon when he was ten months old. Completely uninterested. If we don't keep reviewing the classics, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. These books are a nice intro. Debating on Hunger Games...we'll see. Great modern twist on Rome's demise. Read all three books on consecutive watches. I don't know how she elicits such a vivid picture in so few words, but she does. If Tolken had had that art, The Hobbit would have been 1/3 its size. Don't get me wrong, I still love it, but it is a bit word heavy. Panem et (insert knitting here in latin) :)
Position at Editing: 31.56.281N 123.04.655W @1733 (up one hour to Pacific!) 13.7.13
12.7.13
Day 19 - It's a Biscuit Thing
I started the morning making biscuits and gravy, and finished it with chicken and dumplings. After some cold days, it was what we needed. There wasn't anything left to clean. I really only rinsed the pans.
Back in flight school we started a Friday night roaming dinner, with the non-cookers bringing the wine. We were fresh out of college, and looking to learn of the finer things in life...at least I was...wine and food. After the first week, the party became dinner at my house with others brining wine. I was great with that, and my Martha Stewart Living cookbook. I even think that was a few years before her jail stint. I used to feel guilty about using a cookbook...my mom shunned them. Then I remembered, there was a drawer full in her kitchen. Nana had so many, plus they each had those old index card recipe boxes. I kept it up and became fairly decent. I took a few years off when I was single and flying in the fleet, but starting a family brought me back to the galley (not so different from a kitchen after all). I think the reason I had spent time away is that many things take so long to make, and on a boat that is even more pronounced as you can't leave a pot on the stove and leave the house. Enter the pressure cooker...I have always wanted one. Even the old unsafe ones were really almost worth the risks. The modern ones have no apparent risk if used correctly. Even though I make five meals a day for the family most times, occasionally we snack or lunch out, I was limited in dinner options to 30 minutes of prep/cook time. If the hubby isn't home from work by 1800 he has to bring home dinner. I start prep at 1830 for a 1900 meal. Soups and stews have been few and only on weekends when we are staying in. Though, that does normally mean bad weather, and a soup is the best option anyways. Now, I have made a swarth of pressure cooker recipes from the cookbooks I bought, converted a few of my standbys and made up some new ones. This is how to be a great cook, a family and still have time to do everything else you can think of during the day.
Position at Writing: 31.13.797N 129.19.832W @1232 11.7.13
Back in flight school we started a Friday night roaming dinner, with the non-cookers bringing the wine. We were fresh out of college, and looking to learn of the finer things in life...at least I was...wine and food. After the first week, the party became dinner at my house with others brining wine. I was great with that, and my Martha Stewart Living cookbook. I even think that was a few years before her jail stint. I used to feel guilty about using a cookbook...my mom shunned them. Then I remembered, there was a drawer full in her kitchen. Nana had so many, plus they each had those old index card recipe boxes. I kept it up and became fairly decent. I took a few years off when I was single and flying in the fleet, but starting a family brought me back to the galley (not so different from a kitchen after all). I think the reason I had spent time away is that many things take so long to make, and on a boat that is even more pronounced as you can't leave a pot on the stove and leave the house. Enter the pressure cooker...I have always wanted one. Even the old unsafe ones were really almost worth the risks. The modern ones have no apparent risk if used correctly. Even though I make five meals a day for the family most times, occasionally we snack or lunch out, I was limited in dinner options to 30 minutes of prep/cook time. If the hubby isn't home from work by 1800 he has to bring home dinner. I start prep at 1830 for a 1900 meal. Soups and stews have been few and only on weekends when we are staying in. Though, that does normally mean bad weather, and a soup is the best option anyways. Now, I have made a swarth of pressure cooker recipes from the cookbooks I bought, converted a few of my standbys and made up some new ones. This is how to be a great cook, a family and still have time to do everything else you can think of during the day.
Position at Writing: 31.13.797N 129.19.832W @1232 11.7.13
Day 18 - Knocking on Wood
The winds have graced us with an overground speed of 5-8kts steady all day and night...closer to 8 during the night shift, but we have become quite accustomed to it. The good news is that it looks like even though we left six days after we intended, we should arrive only four later than anticipated. If we hadn't had to beat North like our lives depended on it at the beginning, we might have scratched those four days off. Unfortunately, that was not the case. But, I will let historical weather patterns remain history as long as we can keep this up. No complaints now. :)
And, miraculously, we have had very few repairs. Well, ok, it is really due to the fact that we put the time in that extra week to make sure we really were ready. This is much different than last crossing, when we just decided to work on the way. Which is better? Well, I really think it depends on the crew you take. Both times, I believe we chose right for the crew we had. I may have to put some thought into a separate post about choosing crew and boat preparations. So far this is all that has made the CASREP list:
1. Main Sail Bottom Batten: box tore out, recreated end, bottom then unstitched - waiting to get to port...it's not going to come out of there as I made an extra inner boot.
2. Watermaker Place in Service: this is a normal replacement of filters (and a membrane change was due) and run for a bit before using. (We haven't had a single issue with the watermaker. No extra filters, no pumps no lines run to the other side of the boat across the deck, which is nice compared to last time. A hard starboard tack pulls the scupper out of the water.)
3. Fuel Filters Replaced: some of our fuel is still from years ago - normal maintenance. (No engine problems either, just had to bleed after it ran about 30 minutes on the new filters. Interesting it took that long, but may be due to the completion of the last two lines of the polishing system while underway.)
4. Foot Pump: apparently someone forgot to open the faucet, stepped on the pump, and then continued to press down until it broke before realizing they hadn't opened the faucet. So far, the culprit has not come forward. :) No spare, so the faucet remains closed. (It is only normally a backup off to the side of the sink, but everyone had been using it to fill water bottles.) This caused a bit of consternation at first as after we secured it, someone reopened it (again no culprit)...letting air into the system constantly (as the bellows was broken)...and making the main water pump run non-stop. I just happened to be double-checking the entire system before we started tearing into it to find the air leak. I almost skipped it, as we had closed the faucet only hours ago, and found it open, again. Luckily, closing it worked, and before we ended up running through our collection of spare pumps trying to figure out while they all would have been broken. All's well that ends well. No new pumps!
5. Main Sail Second Batten: the pin either wore out or just fell out of the car/sail connection. So, we put it back together with a cotter pin as we have to look for the right box with the right pins. Not too big a deal as it is near the top.
6. Jib Furling Line: somehow we missed a roller along the side of the boat and it has been rubbing in one spot. Doh! I got to sew in stopper stitches...sure there is a more traditional name, but that is really what they do...one on each side of the rub. The core was showing about half way around, so I stuck a third in for good measure in the bulge. It's in a place that only sees tension when the jib is reefed (not out or furled) so, we are lucky. Tomorrow, we are going to cut the first few feet off and just re-tie the new end to the furler. Apparently, whomever placed the line grabbed twice what was really needed so we have plenty. (One of the few lines we haven't replaced so far. Looks like it may be on the list. Either that or we will just use the other half of the current line which normally sits around the cockpit making a mess until someone spends 15 minutes winding it all up.)
Keep your fingers cross for the wind at our backs this last handful of days!
Position at Writing: 31.14.163N 132.29.160W @0515 (fifteen minutes until I set the clocks ahead again...will be one off from Pacific then) 10.7.13 making 7.5 over ground in 17 knots of wind double reefed
And, miraculously, we have had very few repairs. Well, ok, it is really due to the fact that we put the time in that extra week to make sure we really were ready. This is much different than last crossing, when we just decided to work on the way. Which is better? Well, I really think it depends on the crew you take. Both times, I believe we chose right for the crew we had. I may have to put some thought into a separate post about choosing crew and boat preparations. So far this is all that has made the CASREP list:
1. Main Sail Bottom Batten: box tore out, recreated end, bottom then unstitched - waiting to get to port...it's not going to come out of there as I made an extra inner boot.
2. Watermaker Place in Service: this is a normal replacement of filters (and a membrane change was due) and run for a bit before using. (We haven't had a single issue with the watermaker. No extra filters, no pumps no lines run to the other side of the boat across the deck, which is nice compared to last time. A hard starboard tack pulls the scupper out of the water.)
3. Fuel Filters Replaced: some of our fuel is still from years ago - normal maintenance. (No engine problems either, just had to bleed after it ran about 30 minutes on the new filters. Interesting it took that long, but may be due to the completion of the last two lines of the polishing system while underway.)
4. Foot Pump: apparently someone forgot to open the faucet, stepped on the pump, and then continued to press down until it broke before realizing they hadn't opened the faucet. So far, the culprit has not come forward. :) No spare, so the faucet remains closed. (It is only normally a backup off to the side of the sink, but everyone had been using it to fill water bottles.) This caused a bit of consternation at first as after we secured it, someone reopened it (again no culprit)...letting air into the system constantly (as the bellows was broken)...and making the main water pump run non-stop. I just happened to be double-checking the entire system before we started tearing into it to find the air leak. I almost skipped it, as we had closed the faucet only hours ago, and found it open, again. Luckily, closing it worked, and before we ended up running through our collection of spare pumps trying to figure out while they all would have been broken. All's well that ends well. No new pumps!
5. Main Sail Second Batten: the pin either wore out or just fell out of the car/sail connection. So, we put it back together with a cotter pin as we have to look for the right box with the right pins. Not too big a deal as it is near the top.
6. Jib Furling Line: somehow we missed a roller along the side of the boat and it has been rubbing in one spot. Doh! I got to sew in stopper stitches...sure there is a more traditional name, but that is really what they do...one on each side of the rub. The core was showing about half way around, so I stuck a third in for good measure in the bulge. It's in a place that only sees tension when the jib is reefed (not out or furled) so, we are lucky. Tomorrow, we are going to cut the first few feet off and just re-tie the new end to the furler. Apparently, whomever placed the line grabbed twice what was really needed so we have plenty. (One of the few lines we haven't replaced so far. Looks like it may be on the list. Either that or we will just use the other half of the current line which normally sits around the cockpit making a mess until someone spends 15 minutes winding it all up.)
Keep your fingers cross for the wind at our backs this last handful of days!
Position at Writing: 31.14.163N 132.29.160W @0515 (fifteen minutes until I set the clocks ahead again...will be one off from Pacific then) 10.7.13 making 7.5 over ground in 17 knots of wind double reefed
Day 17 - Under 1K
We made it to the 1000nm from San Diego mark in the morning! :)
While I love being at sea, I am looking forward to having a clean and tidy home again. Keeping boat is much harder when you are cooking, cleaning and washing dishes for six. Four is ok. Oh, and to get back to a gym. That will be nice too. The first things I am doing when I get home:
1. Kicking everyone off the boat so that I can clean (after they get some sleep).
2. Eating the In N Out they bring back.
Oh. Yes. Starting to drool now. I have missed their food so much during the years in Hawaii, but no longer! If you can't tell this is the point where we all start dreaming about land based things. What we miss the most. Since I am well stocked in coffee, jelly beans, tea, gummy bears, chocolate and baking supplies, my daydreaming options are limited. ;)
Position at Writing: 31.14.242N 133.54.011W @1522 9.7.13 (yes, yes we are going more south than we want, but the winds are supposed to shift back further to help us get up north today)
While I love being at sea, I am looking forward to having a clean and tidy home again. Keeping boat is much harder when you are cooking, cleaning and washing dishes for six. Four is ok. Oh, and to get back to a gym. That will be nice too. The first things I am doing when I get home:
1. Kicking everyone off the boat so that I can clean (after they get some sleep).
2. Eating the In N Out they bring back.
Oh. Yes. Starting to drool now. I have missed their food so much during the years in Hawaii, but no longer! If you can't tell this is the point where we all start dreaming about land based things. What we miss the most. Since I am well stocked in coffee, jelly beans, tea, gummy bears, chocolate and baking supplies, my daydreaming options are limited. ;)
Position at Writing: 31.14.242N 133.54.011W @1522 9.7.13 (yes, yes we are going more south than we want, but the winds are supposed to shift back further to help us get up north today)
9.7.13
Day 15 - Cake No. 2
I forgot to mention that on watch last night I made croissant dough. For Poseidon's Fourth Birthday today, we started with fresh baked croissants. I then kept the oven hot making a chocolate carrot cake. He wanted carrot cake. I wanted easy for at sea. I settled on buying a delicious looking Duncan Hines double chocolate cake and decided to shred some carrots into it. It was worth a shot. Apparently, my oven did not think so. While stoves are gimbaled at sea...ovens with heavy things obey a few simple physics laws: 1. Force = mass (cake batter in metal pan) x acceleration (rolling boat in heavy swells) 2. Objects in motion tend to stay in motion; objects at rest tend to stay at rest. Yep, force versus oven door = cake all over the galley.
The strangest thing is, I was typing the previous day's blog, and looked at my husband and said, "Please check and make sure the cake is still in the oven." Apparently, there was some urgency in my voice as he went. Right when he arrived, G-ma was flying out of the galley. If he had not been there to catch her, she would have had a serious head injury. They half landed/half squatted against the entry to Laralei's room. The cake came flying out of the oven right after. At least she is uninjured. Maybe now, three times later, she will listen when I tell her it is not acceptable to wash dishes inside underway. She slipped on her own dishwater. You wash outside in salt, only rise in the galley and dry. Both for dryness and water conservation. Major disaster #1 averted. Major crisis #1 now. Poseidon's birtday; no cake.
I have arrived as a baker. I looked at a couple of cake recipes and decided I did not like either of them. I made one up from scratch. After putting it in the oven, I wrote it out in quick chicken scratch, not my usual writing, before I forgot what I did. I now have a greasy piece of small paper off of my Amsoil notepad with a recipe for "Crystal's Chocolate Carrot Cake"...just like Nana used to have on pieces of notepad real estate agents used to leave at her door. It tastes really good too. I made the Ghiardelli mocha buttercream frosting from the inside of the 100% cocoa wrapper. Mmmmmmm (This time I used the trusty bungee cord to hold the oven door shut.)
Poseidon enjoyed his new Ninjago and Avengers legos, a swath of new books, a Captain America shield and the Iron Man 3 doll...ahem...action figure...set. Laralei got a Care Bear and two tiny My Little Ponies so she would stay out of his legos for a day. The day was a success in the end, and we had a great party at sea. :)
Position at Editing: 31.32.042N 136.17.079W @1734 8.7.13
The strangest thing is, I was typing the previous day's blog, and looked at my husband and said, "Please check and make sure the cake is still in the oven." Apparently, there was some urgency in my voice as he went. Right when he arrived, G-ma was flying out of the galley. If he had not been there to catch her, she would have had a serious head injury. They half landed/half squatted against the entry to Laralei's room. The cake came flying out of the oven right after. At least she is uninjured. Maybe now, three times later, she will listen when I tell her it is not acceptable to wash dishes inside underway. She slipped on her own dishwater. You wash outside in salt, only rise in the galley and dry. Both for dryness and water conservation. Major disaster #1 averted. Major crisis #1 now. Poseidon's birtday; no cake.
I have arrived as a baker. I looked at a couple of cake recipes and decided I did not like either of them. I made one up from scratch. After putting it in the oven, I wrote it out in quick chicken scratch, not my usual writing, before I forgot what I did. I now have a greasy piece of small paper off of my Amsoil notepad with a recipe for "Crystal's Chocolate Carrot Cake"...just like Nana used to have on pieces of notepad real estate agents used to leave at her door. It tastes really good too. I made the Ghiardelli mocha buttercream frosting from the inside of the 100% cocoa wrapper. Mmmmmmm (This time I used the trusty bungee cord to hold the oven door shut.)
Poseidon enjoyed his new Ninjago and Avengers legos, a swath of new books, a Captain America shield and the Iron Man 3 doll...ahem...action figure...set. Laralei got a Care Bear and two tiny My Little Ponies so she would stay out of his legos for a day. The day was a success in the end, and we had a great party at sea. :)
Position at Editing: 31.32.042N 136.17.079W @1734 8.7.13
Day 14 - Inside with Minions
I don't want to go outside; I want to sleep and be warm. I settle for laying on the floor playing with the minions. Laralei and Poseidon have their first game of dominoes. Apparently, Poseidon is old enough to be bored with the simplicity of the game and wants to use them to create designs that topple over. Laralei beats him with three left in his hand. Yep. One and a half year old wins. She chose her dominoes, not me. I just reminded her occasionally that a one cannot play on a six. Yes, she counts to twenty at one and a half. It is my fault really. I started it with Poseidon. When he was in trouble, I made him count. Most parents give children to the count of three, five, whatever...I decided I was not the one in trouble. He gets a warning that something is not polite once, ever. After that he is told it is not acceptable and has to count. How high? Depends on the egregarity (Is that even a word?). Well, Laralei can now hit 20 on her own. Time to move the felonies up to 30. Poseidon is generally at 50, 100 for really bad ones. Oh, and in the language of the day. Yes, I am that parent.
My stomach hurts from an overdose of jelly bellies. Time to lay down again. :)
Position at Editing: 31.32.228N 136.21.147W @1704 8.7.13
My stomach hurts from an overdose of jelly bellies. Time to lay down again. :)
Position at Editing: 31.32.228N 136.21.147W @1704 8.7.13
Day 16 - Almost Swimming
I am working my way into my full body race suit. It may actually still fit. It is a 32, which in racing suits, is tiny. Fine for normal suits, not for full body. Anyhow, right as I am almost in it, and getting ready to pull my wetsuit on to dive on the boat, I get cancelled. It's like those flights when you know whomever is on the ready standby will actually get to do something cool.
We were getting ready to start the engine about twenty minutes prior. Luckily, the hubby noticed something of the stern. It was a large length of barnacled webbing, right by the prop. While he tried to get everything ready for me to dive, I got to go suit up. He said he was going in. I said I was the better swimmer. Besides knowing my crazy nature, he must have seen the glint in my eyes for adventure. He agreed. YAY. In trying to luff up by backing the jib (turning so that the wind is pushing the jib the wrong way so you almost stop in the water), he turned enough that it broke lose and floated off. ~sigh~ My day of glory was ruined. Now, to charge the GoPro and find those body boards...
We have hit the 20kt winds, and are heading fast in the right direction. Finally. We spent a day zigzagging like only a sailboat can. But, we were justly rewarded with the Northerlies we had been expecting.
Oh, and Fabian still lives. Though when we saw him on watch, he was small enough around to fit through the holes in the cockpit wood. Guess I have to take him a Babybel tonight. Maybe even a cracker. Poor little thing. Murphy still lives too, and the cabbage experiment still looks on track for Christmas.
Poseidon and Laralei are their usual rambunctious selves. Although, I could swear they are a foot taller each than when we started. And, Laralei's cheeks are getting a bit soft. Growing time AGAIN!
Time to go check the sail. On the home stretch, or so it would seem.
Position at Writing: 31.31.924N 136.15.731W @1753 8.7.13 heading 075 at 5-7kts. (double reefed and a few rolls on the jib)
We were getting ready to start the engine about twenty minutes prior. Luckily, the hubby noticed something of the stern. It was a large length of barnacled webbing, right by the prop. While he tried to get everything ready for me to dive, I got to go suit up. He said he was going in. I said I was the better swimmer. Besides knowing my crazy nature, he must have seen the glint in my eyes for adventure. He agreed. YAY. In trying to luff up by backing the jib (turning so that the wind is pushing the jib the wrong way so you almost stop in the water), he turned enough that it broke lose and floated off. ~sigh~ My day of glory was ruined. Now, to charge the GoPro and find those body boards...
We have hit the 20kt winds, and are heading fast in the right direction. Finally. We spent a day zigzagging like only a sailboat can. But, we were justly rewarded with the Northerlies we had been expecting.
Oh, and Fabian still lives. Though when we saw him on watch, he was small enough around to fit through the holes in the cockpit wood. Guess I have to take him a Babybel tonight. Maybe even a cracker. Poor little thing. Murphy still lives too, and the cabbage experiment still looks on track for Christmas.
Poseidon and Laralei are their usual rambunctious selves. Although, I could swear they are a foot taller each than when we started. And, Laralei's cheeks are getting a bit soft. Growing time AGAIN!
Time to go check the sail. On the home stretch, or so it would seem.
Position at Writing: 31.31.924N 136.15.731W @1753 8.7.13 heading 075 at 5-7kts. (double reefed and a few rolls on the jib)
Day 13 - 360 Degrees Squared
I am not doing the mental math. That is where the water was. Everywhere.
I saw sunlight outside, but was too busy napping. Once I woke up, the clouds were coming in. Determined to catch the last few rays after our fun with the pressure systems, I rolled myself outside and laid back down. Within 30 seconds it was drizzling. By the time I sat up and was debating on running for the hatch, the winds had jumped from 14 to 23kts. We had the full main up and the full jib out. (i.e. Not a pleasant place to be.) I jumped to the jib winch, and started depowering it while asking my Love to toss me my pants (foul weather gear, already in my blue ninja suit). I gave up after three wraps on the furler. Old jibs and some small ones drop. Most larger moderns ones (the sail at the very front) roll up around themselves: furling. By furling the jib, you decrease the surface area = less power = slower speed, but less keel at high wind speeds. Normally four wraps is good in 20-28kts, with the main double reefed. (Where the jib furls, the main drops down part way and ties to itself to decrease area. There are two different heights where this can be done.) Again, no reefs. Oh, and the swells decided to shift to the beam, again.
My better half comes out, we start the engine, turn into the wind and bring in the jib. I told him I had started packaging the jib nicely for shipping. (It had rolled so tight that, while I had three wraps on, I really don't think we had lost any sail area.) UPS would have been proud. The boat was not. As the weather started declining, I decided we might as well have been swimming. Within an hour we decided to give the newbies the night off. It was going to be bad, and they did not have the gear for the weather. The things we do to get some quality time alone together out here. :)
Once we had the jib in and the main double reefed, we settled into 7-8kts vaulting over ridiculous swells. This is what we live for. This is sailing. Yes, perhaps we are nuts. But, we are nuts together. Poseidon and Laralei are chasing each other through the companionway. G-ma is yelling at them to crawl. I am more than slightly amused when I return inside. My other half stays outside to watch while I make dinner. Chili with rice. After feeding everyone and cleaning up, I head back out to join him on watch for the night. We plan on taking turns dozing. We are still doing 8-9kts on a double reefed main alone. He is drenched. I still think the Pacific was drier than the air. Most definitely warmer. He lays down, and within 20 minutes, I realize that he is shivering. He NEVER shivers. I tell him to go inside. He doesn't even argue. It is cold. I am sure he realizes that I intend to stay out all night, even though he tells me to wake him at midnight. It is 1830. He had been out there since 1630. By midnight, I was counting down the 30 minutes until our normal watch shift at 1230. Then it would be even watches, just backwards from normal. I was a popsicle. I was so happy to curl up between Poseidon and Laralei that I passed out almost immediately. I think I was still cold when I woke up in the morning.
Position at Editing: 31.32.344N 136.22.907W @1650 8.7.13
P.S. Why some of these are edited days late is that we go lengths of time without having good HF spectrum to connect over SSB. So, I tend to review them before they all head out en masse.
I saw sunlight outside, but was too busy napping. Once I woke up, the clouds were coming in. Determined to catch the last few rays after our fun with the pressure systems, I rolled myself outside and laid back down. Within 30 seconds it was drizzling. By the time I sat up and was debating on running for the hatch, the winds had jumped from 14 to 23kts. We had the full main up and the full jib out. (i.e. Not a pleasant place to be.) I jumped to the jib winch, and started depowering it while asking my Love to toss me my pants (foul weather gear, already in my blue ninja suit). I gave up after three wraps on the furler. Old jibs and some small ones drop. Most larger moderns ones (the sail at the very front) roll up around themselves: furling. By furling the jib, you decrease the surface area = less power = slower speed, but less keel at high wind speeds. Normally four wraps is good in 20-28kts, with the main double reefed. (Where the jib furls, the main drops down part way and ties to itself to decrease area. There are two different heights where this can be done.) Again, no reefs. Oh, and the swells decided to shift to the beam, again.
My better half comes out, we start the engine, turn into the wind and bring in the jib. I told him I had started packaging the jib nicely for shipping. (It had rolled so tight that, while I had three wraps on, I really don't think we had lost any sail area.) UPS would have been proud. The boat was not. As the weather started declining, I decided we might as well have been swimming. Within an hour we decided to give the newbies the night off. It was going to be bad, and they did not have the gear for the weather. The things we do to get some quality time alone together out here. :)
Once we had the jib in and the main double reefed, we settled into 7-8kts vaulting over ridiculous swells. This is what we live for. This is sailing. Yes, perhaps we are nuts. But, we are nuts together. Poseidon and Laralei are chasing each other through the companionway. G-ma is yelling at them to crawl. I am more than slightly amused when I return inside. My other half stays outside to watch while I make dinner. Chili with rice. After feeding everyone and cleaning up, I head back out to join him on watch for the night. We plan on taking turns dozing. We are still doing 8-9kts on a double reefed main alone. He is drenched. I still think the Pacific was drier than the air. Most definitely warmer. He lays down, and within 20 minutes, I realize that he is shivering. He NEVER shivers. I tell him to go inside. He doesn't even argue. It is cold. I am sure he realizes that I intend to stay out all night, even though he tells me to wake him at midnight. It is 1830. He had been out there since 1630. By midnight, I was counting down the 30 minutes until our normal watch shift at 1230. Then it would be even watches, just backwards from normal. I was a popsicle. I was so happy to curl up between Poseidon and Laralei that I passed out almost immediately. I think I was still cold when I woke up in the morning.
Position at Editing: 31.32.344N 136.22.907W @1650 8.7.13
P.S. Why some of these are edited days late is that we go lengths of time without having good HF spectrum to connect over SSB. So, I tend to review them before they all head out en masse.
Day 12 - Pressure Systems
Two reasons I slept most of Tuesday - first, I was becoming a grinch from lack of sleep. Second, and more importantly, we were coming up on a low pressure. After our accidental, but quite useful, run into the cold front a few nights ago - it just happened to be moving south faster than predicted (was over 100nm South of where it should have been so we had disregarded it) and we had to head North to keep on track - the winds put us right on the 030N line...along with a low pressure system. Lows are good and bad. Good winds, but the North West quadrant tends to be the roughest, and this one was already at developing gale force. I had spent two days rereading weather and on the sat phone with San Diego. For those who don't know: Lows make hurricanes (not very likely out here - nearly impossible), they rotate counter-clockwise in the Northern hemisphere, and they always tend to move South. This one spent 48 hours moving due West. Its projected path was West. Weirdest thing ever to me out here weather-wise. After 2 days of me scouring weather faxes, HF being too out of spectrum to download weather into our plotter, and sat phone liaising (?) with the San Diego area forcasters (thank you Lance!) we decided to hold course. Oh, and the always requisite review of Bruce and Coles, or now Coles (aka Heavy Weather Sailing). We could always drop South if need be. Among other things, I am the Navigator (as long as the Captain agrees) and the Weather guesser. Eight years of aviation weather overlapped by four with eight years of surface weather (12 years of weather) apparently makes me the expert out here. G-ma is nice as a back up now, but doesn't know the surface impact - just the air side and how to read the chart (always useful).
The men entered the low on their watch and saw steady upper twenties to thirty. I was thirty when we took over and slowly dropping. We entered in the north west quadrant. Never, never trust a weather guesser over a low lol But, it never got over the "developing" stage so we just crossed in a bit of an elongated u-shape with 3m swells. If you haven't been on a boat driving up a wave, then down the other side for more than a second, it takes some getting used to. I think my watch mate just hid in her bivy sack afraid they were going to eat us. She came out when we were running 8.5kts in 25kts of wind with following seas. Running, with the winds behind you, makes it very quiet. Following seas can either do something similar or rock you in every direction. I explained it was not the least dangerous situation to be in. Anyhow, we cleared the low and are now trying to sleep. Again.
Position at Writing: 30.48.538N 144.17.327W @0848 (clocks moved up one hour) 4.7.13
The men entered the low on their watch and saw steady upper twenties to thirty. I was thirty when we took over and slowly dropping. We entered in the north west quadrant. Never, never trust a weather guesser over a low lol But, it never got over the "developing" stage so we just crossed in a bit of an elongated u-shape with 3m swells. If you haven't been on a boat driving up a wave, then down the other side for more than a second, it takes some getting used to. I think my watch mate just hid in her bivy sack afraid they were going to eat us. She came out when we were running 8.5kts in 25kts of wind with following seas. Running, with the winds behind you, makes it very quiet. Following seas can either do something similar or rock you in every direction. I explained it was not the least dangerous situation to be in. Anyhow, we cleared the low and are now trying to sleep. Again.
Position at Writing: 30.48.538N 144.17.327W @0848 (clocks moved up one hour) 4.7.13
5.7.13
Day 11 - The Grinch
Sometimes you just need to sleep a day. And, I did. Now I am better. Back tomorrow. :p
3.7.13
Day 10 - Bed Bugs
Seas were up and winds were 20kts. The children spent the day in bed. We watched IronMan twice, IronMan 2 once, so many renditions of Super Why on the tablet, and built everything under the sun out of hero factory lego parts.
Poseidon has decided that he wants to drink raw eggs in the morning as that is what Captain America does. We haven't watched Avengers in ages, yet he still remembered. I told him that habit had been discontinued due to food borne diseases which should be cooked out. That would not change his mind. Luckily, it will be a while before he can open the refrigerator. He wants to be Iron Man. Apparently, as soon as we finish up the alphabet we are moving onto physics and metallurgy. I think his late birthday present when we return to the states is going to be a breadboard/robotics kit. So excited!
Laralei just tries to be a daredevil. We went outside just to get a little break from the bed, and she was trying to swan dive from the lazarette to the floor on the pillows. If I get grey hairs, this is where they are from. :)
Position at writing: 30.09.687N 147.44.021W @1627 2.7.13
Poseidon has decided that he wants to drink raw eggs in the morning as that is what Captain America does. We haven't watched Avengers in ages, yet he still remembered. I told him that habit had been discontinued due to food borne diseases which should be cooked out. That would not change his mind. Luckily, it will be a while before he can open the refrigerator. He wants to be Iron Man. Apparently, as soon as we finish up the alphabet we are moving onto physics and metallurgy. I think his late birthday present when we return to the states is going to be a breadboard/robotics kit. So excited!
Laralei just tries to be a daredevil. We went outside just to get a little break from the bed, and she was trying to swan dive from the lazarette to the floor on the pillows. If I get grey hairs, this is where they are from. :)
Position at writing: 30.09.687N 147.44.021W @1627 2.7.13
Day 9 - Return of the Blue Ninja
Oh yeah, baby, the blue ninja is back!! I put on the blue last night for watch, forgetting it was wool, without an under layer. ITCHY! Anyhow, I was rewarded with a chilling drizzle on watch, some motoring while watermaker setting up, and tent camping in the cockpit for quiet time with the kiddos.
Tent camping is worth writing about. We took the single size down comforter and hung it over the cockpit table, put the body pillows we have been using as seat in the floor and put down two pillows. Only our heads were covered from the sun. I wish I had a picture of the three of us crammed in there. Laralei was downhill, with with arms and legs sprawled everywhere sound asleep in minutes. Poseidon was refusing to nap, so kicking things, rolling around and getting himself into trouble. But, he liked the tent and would not leave. I started out with my head with theirs, and ended up climbing up on the lazarette after being curled up in a ball at their feet with no room.
Position at Editing: N 30.09.691 W 147.45.126 @1619 02.7.13
Tent camping is worth writing about. We took the single size down comforter and hung it over the cockpit table, put the body pillows we have been using as seat in the floor and put down two pillows. Only our heads were covered from the sun. I wish I had a picture of the three of us crammed in there. Laralei was downhill, with with arms and legs sprawled everywhere sound asleep in minutes. Poseidon was refusing to nap, so kicking things, rolling around and getting himself into trouble. But, he liked the tent and would not leave. I started out with my head with theirs, and ended up climbing up on the lazarette after being curled up in a ball at their feet with no room.
Position at Editing: N 30.09.691 W 147.45.126 @1619 02.7.13
1.7.13
Day 8 - Waxing Poetic
You knew it was coming. I had to remake a batten box on the main. Luckily it was the first one, so we were able to keep sailing. Unluckily, it was the first one, so we were able to keep sailing. Boaters will understand this. My feet are sore from trying to keep balanced against random protrusions while not getting beaten up excessively by the sail. Anytime I work topside, I tend to reflect while working:
I love being on the water. Watching the endless blue just go gliding by when under sail...feeling the salt air. Laying out in the cockpit soaking up the sun and watching the swells in front of the rainbow sunrise. How do people not love this life? Playing on the foc'sle with Poseidon and Laralei. Watching a movie with water slapping the porthole as we are keeled over and the swells are hitting that far up. Spotting birds and naming them as they fish alongside a few days, and maybe even eat our scraps.
And the repairs. I know people who loathe, and go to great lengths to avoid, underway repairs. I love fixing things, maybe that is why I started a boat maintenance business. Which, by the way, now has a shop for those of you whose boats we don't already work on. (http://shop.poseidonmarinemanagement.com) Sail repair is a simple chance to let my mind wander, and appreciate the finer points of sailing. Sometimes drifting to trim scenarios, others to improving rigging design. Working on the interior systems, electric to water to engine...at least, when I can get my Love to give up his turn on them. The only problem with two engineers in the family: Who gets to fix it? In the end it doesn't really matter as the other one gets to play with the children. Or, try to force them to finish some school work. :)
I can't wait for the day when we have enough people running the day to day business that we can do as much of this as we want!
I am going to go have a cup of coffee on the bow.
Cheerio!
Position at Writing: 31.18.904N 151.53.926W @1916 20.6.13
P.S. Less than a week now until Poseidon turns four!
I love being on the water. Watching the endless blue just go gliding by when under sail...feeling the salt air. Laying out in the cockpit soaking up the sun and watching the swells in front of the rainbow sunrise. How do people not love this life? Playing on the foc'sle with Poseidon and Laralei. Watching a movie with water slapping the porthole as we are keeled over and the swells are hitting that far up. Spotting birds and naming them as they fish alongside a few days, and maybe even eat our scraps.
And the repairs. I know people who loathe, and go to great lengths to avoid, underway repairs. I love fixing things, maybe that is why I started a boat maintenance business. Which, by the way, now has a shop for those of you whose boats we don't already work on. (http://shop.poseidonmarinemanagement.com) Sail repair is a simple chance to let my mind wander, and appreciate the finer points of sailing. Sometimes drifting to trim scenarios, others to improving rigging design. Working on the interior systems, electric to water to engine...at least, when I can get my Love to give up his turn on them. The only problem with two engineers in the family: Who gets to fix it? In the end it doesn't really matter as the other one gets to play with the children. Or, try to force them to finish some school work. :)
I can't wait for the day when we have enough people running the day to day business that we can do as much of this as we want!
I am going to go have a cup of coffee on the bow.
Cheerio!
Position at Writing: 31.18.904N 151.53.926W @1916 20.6.13
P.S. Less than a week now until Poseidon turns four!
30.6.13
Day 7 - Cabbage
It's been a slow day. Not much getting done, and not much wind in the right direction.
Murphy has been living on a cabbage head since we left. It lives in the fridge, and I give him part of a leaf at a time every few days. He is a very, very spoiled snail. I am waiting for him to try to find a bigger shell. That could be funny. So, about cabbage...I have never really been a fan. I like good coleslaw with some mustard in it. That is about it. Cruisers always talk about cabbage being great. I will eat canned spinach first.
Anyhow, back to the point. The cabbage hasn't changed. It looks just like the first day. I am scared to eat anything that doesn't change. I am quite tempted to see if we can use the entire head for Murphy before it goes bad. This will probably mean a science experiment until Christmas. Literally.
Does anyone know the half-life/decay rate of cabbage?
Murphy has been living on a cabbage head since we left. It lives in the fridge, and I give him part of a leaf at a time every few days. He is a very, very spoiled snail. I am waiting for him to try to find a bigger shell. That could be funny. So, about cabbage...I have never really been a fan. I like good coleslaw with some mustard in it. That is about it. Cruisers always talk about cabbage being great. I will eat canned spinach first.
Anyhow, back to the point. The cabbage hasn't changed. It looks just like the first day. I am scared to eat anything that doesn't change. I am quite tempted to see if we can use the entire head for Murphy before it goes bad. This will probably mean a science experiment until Christmas. Literally.
Does anyone know the half-life/decay rate of cabbage?
29.6.13
Day 6 - The Fish, The Rain and The Mouse
Mid-morning Scotty saw the line jumping, which we have been trailing off the back of the boat this whole time. In he pulls a "little" mahi. Now, my manly trophy fishers wanted to release the poor, "little" fish. The old trout fishing side of me told them that I would like it on the foredeck so that it could become dinner, please. They grudgingly obliged, hauling the string by hand up the entire length of the boat. I gutted, chopped off the head and tail and tossed the carcass to Davey Jones. And, I thanked the fish for feeding us. Hey, if you are going to take a life to feed yours, you can at least thank the thing. Thank you to my Love, as I "may" have squealed a bit when they mentioned putting the stinky thing in the cockpit. Note to others: fish and cockpit do not go together. That is of course unless it is already cleaned and prepared and on its way to the grill. That is okay. We fed the crew off of one third of the "little" fish, tossed one third as I was a bit lazy to clean out the bones (who knows maybe Davey Jones was hungry too), and have a third in the freezer.
Before dinner, and after the fish catching, I happened to be outside washing dishes. Apparently, Davey wanted a spoon to eat his fish. I am now down a small spoon that slipped right over. I told him that was fine, but if he ever tried taking my coffee press I would be jumping in to take it back. The horizon was nothing but a line of grey misty cloudiness, and rain. I volunteered to stay outside as I was already wet. That ended up being outside in the rain until 1830 dinner cooking time. Which, simultaneously with me trying to get to the galley, just happened to be when the wind chose to shift. Off the bow. Yep, when it rains...So, after engine starting, jib furling, main centering...Oh, I almost forgot. I sent g-ma to the wheel as Auto was already having issues. Steer into the wind is apparently a little more complex than I realized. As we were covering the mechanics of it, we lost our speed. So I reach back throw it in gear and give her some juice. Somehow, we still did not make it into the wind with 4kts of speed until after the sails were fixed. :p Ahh, I definitely don't miss the days of my Love having to explain everything to me that way. At least when I was learning, we had a smaller boat. Eight years will do a lot for your sailing skills. We will make at least a competent deck hand out of her yet.
"So there I was..." (typical Navy story beginning) on watch (another common Navy story) when I saw a shadow...(more common than you would think). The problem is flying fish shadows (Yes, we throw a couple out each morning that have the misfortune of landing topside over the night. Mysteriously, none hope on board in daylight.) do not climb back up. The shadow flitted down the speaker, and I thought "CRAB!," then gained some sense and went "Wow! Big flying fish." Right as I was debating on moving across the keeled over cockpit to toss it back. The shadow went UP the line. Note: Fish do not go up lines. No matter how cold, wet, bedraggled, or late on watch (0300) it is. By some stroke of genius, I managed to remember that I had my headlamp on, and quickly turned it on to stave of the approach of whatever foul, loathsome creature was attacking the cockpit under the cover of darkness. At that point, I screeched, "Ack!!! IT'S A MOUSE." Apparently I wasn't quite loud enough to wake the dead (or even the sleeping in the cabin), but G-ma woke with a start and screech. The mouse was terrified of the sudden light, and scrambling in a tangle of main sheet (almost glad I hadn't tidied it earlier like I should have) just past the foot of her bivy sack. I have never seen camouflage move so quickly. Her feet were at her ear about the same time the mouse saw the cubbyhole in the side. It darted in like its life depended on it. After I secured my light, it took all of three minutes for the mouse to dart back up under the dodger to the "garage." The place out the mid-hatch where we store gas cans and fenders and who knows what else...apparently mice nests. Now, we have to feed one more thing. Oh, and it was dubbed Fabian by my other half just for you Jolie. Before I could name it Noah. So help me, if I find another animal on this boat, I am going to name it Noah so it feels responsible for feeding everyone. :)
Speaking of animals, the baby lizard received a burial at sea with full honors. Ok. So I tossed him in when no one was looking. Quite honestly, I think his eye slits had just opened, so there wasn't much chance. That, and G-ma decided a rock would be nice in the terrarium (lidded box). But, hey, a girl can hope. Just in case you are worried, Murphy is apparently indestructible.
Oh, and for Davy Jones, apparently he does not like being told he will NEVER get something, such as my coffee press. We had winds directly from the direction we wanted to go all night. At 20 kts. So we motor sailed 30 degrees off all night anyway. He threw the swells right back at us. We found a good point to turn East. Looks like the winds will start pushing us back North a little by Monday as we are still barely to Tiajuana off-shore by thousands of miles. We are being paid back by swells that come ripping across the cockpit. At least it is sunny outside. As long as you put stuff on the starboard side it will dry out. It may be a little early to claim victory, but at least I can claim an even hand. AND AN EASTERN HEADING! YAY!
Position at Writing: 30.15.830N 155.33.996W @0835 28.6.13 (Heading 087T!)
Before dinner, and after the fish catching, I happened to be outside washing dishes. Apparently, Davey wanted a spoon to eat his fish. I am now down a small spoon that slipped right over. I told him that was fine, but if he ever tried taking my coffee press I would be jumping in to take it back. The horizon was nothing but a line of grey misty cloudiness, and rain. I volunteered to stay outside as I was already wet. That ended up being outside in the rain until 1830 dinner cooking time. Which, simultaneously with me trying to get to the galley, just happened to be when the wind chose to shift. Off the bow. Yep, when it rains...So, after engine starting, jib furling, main centering...Oh, I almost forgot. I sent g-ma to the wheel as Auto was already having issues. Steer into the wind is apparently a little more complex than I realized. As we were covering the mechanics of it, we lost our speed. So I reach back throw it in gear and give her some juice. Somehow, we still did not make it into the wind with 4kts of speed until after the sails were fixed. :p Ahh, I definitely don't miss the days of my Love having to explain everything to me that way. At least when I was learning, we had a smaller boat. Eight years will do a lot for your sailing skills. We will make at least a competent deck hand out of her yet.
"So there I was..." (typical Navy story beginning) on watch (another common Navy story) when I saw a shadow...(more common than you would think). The problem is flying fish shadows (Yes, we throw a couple out each morning that have the misfortune of landing topside over the night. Mysteriously, none hope on board in daylight.) do not climb back up. The shadow flitted down the speaker, and I thought "CRAB!," then gained some sense and went "Wow! Big flying fish." Right as I was debating on moving across the keeled over cockpit to toss it back. The shadow went UP the line. Note: Fish do not go up lines. No matter how cold, wet, bedraggled, or late on watch (0300) it is. By some stroke of genius, I managed to remember that I had my headlamp on, and quickly turned it on to stave of the approach of whatever foul, loathsome creature was attacking the cockpit under the cover of darkness. At that point, I screeched, "Ack!!! IT'S A MOUSE." Apparently I wasn't quite loud enough to wake the dead (or even the sleeping in the cabin), but G-ma woke with a start and screech. The mouse was terrified of the sudden light, and scrambling in a tangle of main sheet (almost glad I hadn't tidied it earlier like I should have) just past the foot of her bivy sack. I have never seen camouflage move so quickly. Her feet were at her ear about the same time the mouse saw the cubbyhole in the side. It darted in like its life depended on it. After I secured my light, it took all of three minutes for the mouse to dart back up under the dodger to the "garage." The place out the mid-hatch where we store gas cans and fenders and who knows what else...apparently mice nests. Now, we have to feed one more thing. Oh, and it was dubbed Fabian by my other half just for you Jolie. Before I could name it Noah. So help me, if I find another animal on this boat, I am going to name it Noah so it feels responsible for feeding everyone. :)
Speaking of animals, the baby lizard received a burial at sea with full honors. Ok. So I tossed him in when no one was looking. Quite honestly, I think his eye slits had just opened, so there wasn't much chance. That, and G-ma decided a rock would be nice in the terrarium (lidded box). But, hey, a girl can hope. Just in case you are worried, Murphy is apparently indestructible.
Oh, and for Davy Jones, apparently he does not like being told he will NEVER get something, such as my coffee press. We had winds directly from the direction we wanted to go all night. At 20 kts. So we motor sailed 30 degrees off all night anyway. He threw the swells right back at us. We found a good point to turn East. Looks like the winds will start pushing us back North a little by Monday as we are still barely to Tiajuana off-shore by thousands of miles. We are being paid back by swells that come ripping across the cockpit. At least it is sunny outside. As long as you put stuff on the starboard side it will dry out. It may be a little early to claim victory, but at least I can claim an even hand. AND AN EASTERN HEADING! YAY!
Position at Writing: 30.15.830N 155.33.996W @0835 28.6.13 (Heading 087T!)
28.6.13
Day 5 - Watch (Part 3 of 3)
I have the pictures: sunset, sunrise and everything in between. All I can say is, "Wow!" I love my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 phone. Now I just have to try to not lose it overboard like the first one. I tweeted not too long ago that have two would be fun. I meant in parallel, not in series. The first one is doing me no good sitting at the bottom of the Ko Olina Marina.
We had a turnover that there had been various contacts all night (fishing boats), and needed to keep our eyes peeled. We saw nothing. That is nothing but water, intermittent clouds and stars, and the waning moon. We chased some light winds, found some stern winds and ran a bit downwind. Relative winds were still on the beam, so no wing and wing sailing, but still exciting. I was pulling the preventer out at 3am or so. Then, right after taking my sunrise pictures we started getting 12kts on a port tack reaching to close hauled. I readjusted the lines over my snoring watchmate and removed the preventer. We left watch heading directly where the Nav Computer says we should be making 5-6kts. This is the life. Come on out!
Position at Writing: 29.21.021N 157.14.844W @1105 27.6.13
We had a turnover that there had been various contacts all night (fishing boats), and needed to keep our eyes peeled. We saw nothing. That is nothing but water, intermittent clouds and stars, and the waning moon. We chased some light winds, found some stern winds and ran a bit downwind. Relative winds were still on the beam, so no wing and wing sailing, but still exciting. I was pulling the preventer out at 3am or so. Then, right after taking my sunrise pictures we started getting 12kts on a port tack reaching to close hauled. I readjusted the lines over my snoring watchmate and removed the preventer. We left watch heading directly where the Nav Computer says we should be making 5-6kts. This is the life. Come on out!
Position at Writing: 29.21.021N 157.14.844W @1105 27.6.13
Day 5 - Cooking in the Galley (Part 2 of 3)
I spent most of the day watching Poseidon and Laralei from the galley. I was making dough in the breadmaker, pie crust on the counter, and started Coeur. Couer is our sour dough starter. She is quite active. In under two hours, she more than double in size and threatened to take over my counter. That means she is going to be yummy for pancakes. And, maybe even some sourdough bread. Why Coeur? Well, apparently, everything ends up having a name in this family. And, the boat is Heartstings. I will let you make the leap from there.
The mini pizzas were a hit with frozen fruit at lunch. As were the applesauce pouches at snack time. But, the coup de gras were the bacon wrapped sirloins with creamed corn from a can and THRIVE mashed garlic potatoes. We finally celebrated Scotty's birthday. Complete with the pumpkin pie chaser. And, it was a good pie, not my best, but the crust may have been. I adjusted my recipe a bit as it had been lacking in depth. Now, my crust recipe is perfect. I think tomorrow night will be THRIVE raspberry cobbler. mmmm
It was nice hanging out with the kiddos, taking the occasional lego and/or read a book break with the kiddos as I watched them play.
To the watch...
Position at Writing: 29.20.659N 157.15.352W @1058 27.6.13
The mini pizzas were a hit with frozen fruit at lunch. As were the applesauce pouches at snack time. But, the coup de gras were the bacon wrapped sirloins with creamed corn from a can and THRIVE mashed garlic potatoes. We finally celebrated Scotty's birthday. Complete with the pumpkin pie chaser. And, it was a good pie, not my best, but the crust may have been. I adjusted my recipe a bit as it had been lacking in depth. Now, my crust recipe is perfect. I think tomorrow night will be THRIVE raspberry cobbler. mmmm
It was nice hanging out with the kiddos, taking the occasional lego and/or read a book break with the kiddos as I watched them play.
To the watch...
Position at Writing: 29.20.659N 157.15.352W @1058 27.6.13
Day 5 - Sunrises and Retronasal Smelling (Part 1 of 3)
No. They have nothing in common.
I was up (0030-0530 watch) for sunrise, and will say this. Tommorow I am taking pictures for everyone. I don't care if I can't post them until landfall. The skies out here are too amazing not to share. Good sailing through the morning, and then the engine had to be turned on for a few hours. Mark made eggs for breakfast, as I napped early. I made pizza for lunch. Same breadmaker recipe we used at the HI-SEAS workshop. We threw on some THRIVE meats with mozzarella. It was extremely tasty, and I have a doughball for next week.
The retronasal smelling...(spell check doesn't like that word)
If you leave the hatch closed in a head, no matter how clean everyone is, it smells. So, one head we can leave open. One would get too much water, so only gets aired when it REALLY needs it. I had a couple of jelly beans left in my hand and, in a reminder of Ithica with the HI-SEAS crew, decided to conduct an experiment in retronasal smelling in the head. Yes. I did. And, yes, the head is surprisingly pleasant with a mouthful of jelly beans. I can now patently recommend it to anyone. I write this warily as I am afraid I may lose my jelly beans. That, my friends, would be a sad day. No, I am not defining retronasal, I am sure if you are reading this you have access to a dictionary. :)
Also, since I have mentioned them here, please check out http://www.hi-seas.org. That is the crew doing the Mars food study on Hawai'i that I am an alternate for. Cheers to you guys if you read this! Miss you and hope all is well in the hab! If you send me an email, I may share my new and improved pie crust recipe. ;)
Position at editing: N29.20.181N 157.16.031W @1049 27.6.13
I was up (0030-0530 watch) for sunrise, and will say this. Tommorow I am taking pictures for everyone. I don't care if I can't post them until landfall. The skies out here are too amazing not to share. Good sailing through the morning, and then the engine had to be turned on for a few hours. Mark made eggs for breakfast, as I napped early. I made pizza for lunch. Same breadmaker recipe we used at the HI-SEAS workshop. We threw on some THRIVE meats with mozzarella. It was extremely tasty, and I have a doughball for next week.
The retronasal smelling...(spell check doesn't like that word)
If you leave the hatch closed in a head, no matter how clean everyone is, it smells. So, one head we can leave open. One would get too much water, so only gets aired when it REALLY needs it. I had a couple of jelly beans left in my hand and, in a reminder of Ithica with the HI-SEAS crew, decided to conduct an experiment in retronasal smelling in the head. Yes. I did. And, yes, the head is surprisingly pleasant with a mouthful of jelly beans. I can now patently recommend it to anyone. I write this warily as I am afraid I may lose my jelly beans. That, my friends, would be a sad day. No, I am not defining retronasal, I am sure if you are reading this you have access to a dictionary. :)
Also, since I have mentioned them here, please check out http://www.hi-seas.org. That is the crew doing the Mars food study on Hawai'i that I am an alternate for. Cheers to you guys if you read this! Miss you and hope all is well in the hab! If you send me an email, I may share my new and improved pie crust recipe. ;)
Position at editing: N29.20.181N 157.16.031W @1049 27.6.13
26.6.13
Day 4 - Keeping Boat (Tuesday)
Even underway, housekeeping is still important, even more important in some ways. I am in the process of writing a book on it. Literally. While in port, you tend to have the usual household dust and detritus. The focus changes when underway. The start of my draft priorities are:
1. Water. If there is water or wetness anywhere. Remove it immediately, follow with a type of anti-bacterial cleanser, and then suitable cleaner/polish for the surface. (i.e. a clorox wipe followed by murphy's oil soap once the clorox dissipates.) If you don't use the suitable surface cleaner, the disinfectant may erode or visibly degrade the surface. If you don't use the disinfectant, you risk the change of molds, etc. Anything wet (clothing, etc.) needs to be dried before being placed in laundry. Hang it on the lifelines, or lay it out on the decks. If you can't dry it in inside, get it outside until you can. Outside will always have wet areas, that is ok. (I will explain later.)
2. Floor debris. The first few days in any underway are spent replacing things you thought were secure in new places they will be. This is only a second to water as dry is so important. Things rolling around can cause both damage to person and property. A pan falling can dent the floor. Over time, if not stored correctly, this can lead to a need to replace vice just resurface the floor once its integrity has been compromised. Anything rolling or falling can get underfoot leading to personal injury or even worse. You may lose a crew member in the extreme.
3. Galley....
So, you see where this is going. I have cross posted this to the Poseidon Marine blog as I want to let everyone know the book is in work. So, no real musings on Poseidon and Laralei today. As it was they were watched by the rest of the crew most of the day so I could get the boat cleaning done. (Note: Just remember no mopping while underway. Things get too slippery.)
1. Water. If there is water or wetness anywhere. Remove it immediately, follow with a type of anti-bacterial cleanser, and then suitable cleaner/polish for the surface. (i.e. a clorox wipe followed by murphy's oil soap once the clorox dissipates.) If you don't use the suitable surface cleaner, the disinfectant may erode or visibly degrade the surface. If you don't use the disinfectant, you risk the change of molds, etc. Anything wet (clothing, etc.) needs to be dried before being placed in laundry. Hang it on the lifelines, or lay it out on the decks. If you can't dry it in inside, get it outside until you can. Outside will always have wet areas, that is ok. (I will explain later.)
2. Floor debris. The first few days in any underway are spent replacing things you thought were secure in new places they will be. This is only a second to water as dry is so important. Things rolling around can cause both damage to person and property. A pan falling can dent the floor. Over time, if not stored correctly, this can lead to a need to replace vice just resurface the floor once its integrity has been compromised. Anything rolling or falling can get underfoot leading to personal injury or even worse. You may lose a crew member in the extreme.
3. Galley....
So, you see where this is going. I have cross posted this to the Poseidon Marine blog as I want to let everyone know the book is in work. So, no real musings on Poseidon and Laralei today. As it was they were watched by the rest of the crew most of the day so I could get the boat cleaning done. (Note: Just remember no mopping while underway. Things get too slippery.)
Day 3 - Drawing the Short Straw
G-ma and I on watch at 0230, enjoying the pretty stars and waiting for the wind to shift. The wind was refusing to comply with the weather map stating that it should really let us turn ENE. We finally got the break, and at 4.5kts in 8kts of wind, we tacked. G-ma has never done this before, but we made it look good. At least to anyone watching us in the middle of nowhere at 0230. We steady out, and I start in on my favorite part, trimming sails...the part that helped us win the San Diego beer cans two years in a row. (I had to do something while Mark was deployed years ago.) And then the wind decided to die...like 1.2kts die. To add to that it went all fluky and could not pick a direction. So, following our mesmerizing (tongue in cheek for those who don't know me) tack, we performed a stellar furling of the jib. Why the short straw? We were stuck turning on the engine. All night. At least it is running better than ever after our overhaul in Hawaii. It is just not quiet sailing. Oh, well. So, now that you have the night-time reindeer games...
Poseidon and Laralei had completely forgotten that they had been sick. They were everywhere, both inside and out. After a breakfast of clif bars, because Mark and I were hungry and no one else was up, so that is what everyone else got too, they sat around in the cockpit reading. Poseidon requested the "leaf man" book, which of course was the only one that is lost somewhere within 50 feet. Laralei settled for her fairy stories, and Poseidon listened in while requesting Ninjago. We made it to snack time that way, and then went in to play legos. Laralei has a card addiction. Any type. She collects them all. Her animal flash cards have been joined by Poseidon's addition cards, my old deck of playing cards and numerous other types that come with everything from Chima characters to Happy Meal toys. We spent the late afternoon going through them endlessly. Counting. Shapes. What color is that? etc. Only, she wanted to keep doing the same 15 again. And, she can sign again. So, she knows that you know what she wants. Yeah.
I did make it through 100 pages of Guns, Germs and Steel sitting watch alone out in the cockpit for most of the mid afternoon. I have a great tan, and wish I could keep it for my next competition. Anyone know of one in the San Diego area mid-July? About working out...getting from one end of the boat to the other is a workout. And, it takes a few days to acclimate. So, tomorrow will be my first day of structure. How do you think handstand pushups in the companionway sound? Back to the book, though, I think I may use it as the basis for the kiddos syllabus. It is a great linear view of history covering the world as a whole, with a scientific underpinning, and I can just branch off into the classics and time pieces as we hit them. I have been looking for a good consistent string to attach everything else to, and this may be it.
Well, back to my morning coffee and a work day you will have to wait until tomorrow to read about. Tuesday is housekeeping day. :)
Position at Writing: N26.48.192 W158.55.395 @0846 25.6.13
Poseidon and Laralei had completely forgotten that they had been sick. They were everywhere, both inside and out. After a breakfast of clif bars, because Mark and I were hungry and no one else was up, so that is what everyone else got too, they sat around in the cockpit reading. Poseidon requested the "leaf man" book, which of course was the only one that is lost somewhere within 50 feet. Laralei settled for her fairy stories, and Poseidon listened in while requesting Ninjago. We made it to snack time that way, and then went in to play legos. Laralei has a card addiction. Any type. She collects them all. Her animal flash cards have been joined by Poseidon's addition cards, my old deck of playing cards and numerous other types that come with everything from Chima characters to Happy Meal toys. We spent the late afternoon going through them endlessly. Counting. Shapes. What color is that? etc. Only, she wanted to keep doing the same 15 again. And, she can sign again. So, she knows that you know what she wants. Yeah.
I did make it through 100 pages of Guns, Germs and Steel sitting watch alone out in the cockpit for most of the mid afternoon. I have a great tan, and wish I could keep it for my next competition. Anyone know of one in the San Diego area mid-July? About working out...getting from one end of the boat to the other is a workout. And, it takes a few days to acclimate. So, tomorrow will be my first day of structure. How do you think handstand pushups in the companionway sound? Back to the book, though, I think I may use it as the basis for the kiddos syllabus. It is a great linear view of history covering the world as a whole, with a scientific underpinning, and I can just branch off into the classics and time pieces as we hit them. I have been looking for a good consistent string to attach everything else to, and this may be it.
Well, back to my morning coffee and a work day you will have to wait until tomorrow to read about. Tuesday is housekeeping day. :)
Position at Writing: N26.48.192 W158.55.395 @0846 25.6.13
25.6.13
Day 3 - Drawing the Short Straw
G-ma and I on watch at 0230, enjoying the pretty starts and waiting for the wind to shift. The wind was refusing to comply with the weather map stating that it should really let us turn ENE. We finally got the break, and at 4.5kts in 8kts of wind, we tacked. G-ma has never done this before, but we made it look good. At least to anyone watching us in the middle of nowhere at 0230. We steady out, and I start in on my favorite part, trimming sails...the part that helped us win the San Diego beer cans two years in a row. (I had to do something while Mark was deployed years ago.) And then the wind decided to die...like 1.2kts die. To add to that it went all fluky and could not pick a direction. So, following our mesmerizing (tongue in cheek for those who don't know me) tack, we performed a stellar furling of the jib. Why the short straw? We were stuck turning on the engine. All night. At least it is running better than ever after our overhaul in Hawaii. It is just not quiet sailing. Oh, well. So, now that you have the night-time reindeer games...
Poseidon and Laralei had completely forgotten that they had been sick. They were everywhere, both inside and out. After a breakfast of clif bars, because Mark and I were hungry and no one else was up, so that is what everyone else got too, they sat around in the cockpit reading. Poseidon requested the "leaf man" book, which of course was the only one that is lost somewhere within 50 feet. Laralei settled for her fairy stories, and Poseidon listened in while requesting Ninjago. We made it to snack time that way, and then went in to play legos. Laralei has a card addiction. Any type. She collects them all. Her animal flash cards have been joined by Poseidon's addition cards, my old deck of playing cards and numerous other types that come with everything from Chima characters to Happy Meal toys. We spent the late afternoon going through them endlessly. Counting. Shapes. What color is that? etc. Only, she wanted to keep doing the same 15 again. And, she can sign again. So, she knows that you know what she wants. Yeah.
I did make it through 100 pages of Guns, Germs and Steel sitting watch alone out in the cockpit for most of the mid afternoon. I have a great tan, and wish I could keep it for my next competition. Anyone know of one in the San Diego area mid-July? About working out...getting from one end of the boat to the other is a workout. And, it takes a few days to acclimate. So, tomorrow will be my first day of structure. How do you think handstand pushups in the companionway sound? Back to the book, though, I think I may use it as the basis for the kiddos syllabus. It is a great liner view of history covering the world as a whole, with a scientific underpinning, and I can just branch off into the classics and time pieces as we hit them. I have been looking for a good consistent string to attach everything else to, and this may be it.
Well, back to my morning coffee and a work day you will have to wait until tomorrow to read about. Tuesday is housekeeping day. :)
Position at Writing: N26.48.192 W158.55.395 @0846 25.6.13
Poseidon and Laralei had completely forgotten that they had been sick. They were everywhere, both inside and out. After a breakfast of clif bars, because Mark and I were hungry and no one else was up, so that is what everyone else got too, they sat around in the cockpit reading. Poseidon requested the "leaf man" book, which of course was the only one that is lost somewhere within 50 feet. Laralei settled for her fairy stories, and Poseidon listened in while requesting Ninjago. We made it to snack time that way, and then went in to play legos. Laralei has a card addiction. Any type. She collects them all. Her animal flash cards have been joined by Poseidon's addition cards, my old deck of playing cards and numerous other types that come with everything from Chima characters to Happy Meal toys. We spent the late afternoon going through them endlessly. Counting. Shapes. What color is that? etc. Only, she wanted to keep doing the same 15 again. And, she can sign again. So, she knows that you know what she wants. Yeah.
I did make it through 100 pages of Guns, Germs and Steel sitting watch alone out in the cockpit for most of the mid afternoon. I have a great tan, and wish I could keep it for my next competition. Anyone know of one in the San Diego area mid-July? About working out...getting from one end of the boat to the other is a workout. And, it takes a few days to acclimate. So, tomorrow will be my first day of structure. How do you think handstand pushups in the companionway sound? Back to the book, though, I think I may use it as the basis for the kiddos syllabus. It is a great liner view of history covering the world as a whole, with a scientific underpinning, and I can just branch off into the classics and time pieces as we hit them. I have been looking for a good consistent string to attach everything else to, and this may be it.
Well, back to my morning coffee and a work day you will have to wait until tomorrow to read about. Tuesday is housekeeping day. :)
Position at Writing: N26.48.192 W158.55.395 @0846 25.6.13
Day 2 - Calming Down (Sunday)
The swells calmed down, Poseidon and Laralei finished re-tasting their food, and I think the boat is clean again...for now.
We have all become a healthy brown shade, though some of the crew constantly worry about whether they will get too pink. Apparently, they do not find it humorous when I tell them they can go inside to get out of the sun at any time. :) The blankets in the cockpit are used more for face covers while napping right now. Laundry is strung up drying and I managed to finish off Winston Churchill a life by John Keegan in under 24 hours. It is a very good book. I am normally not a fan of autobiographies, as few cover a life without an agenda. But, other than a few mentions of how he was consistent in thought, it was just a good book with a deep yet quick reading historical review. Ok, so guessing you are not reading this for book reviews. The kiddos and I played with some legos and read some books inside for a few hours.
Laralei and Poseidon have found their favorite spot. They each hang onto a winch on the upwind side and watch the waves. Occasionally, they try to lean over, so it requires vigilant attention. Poseidon wants larger waves. Laralei just wants more water. I am not sure that she is correctly applying "more" in this case, but if you ask her questions, she will explain what more means. So, apparently we need to find a bigger body of water than the Pacific. If anyone knows of a shuttle to Europa, she may be ready in a few years. She is already trouble. Poseidon magically regained his sea legs the first day. Sick or not, he was a regular deck monkey. I had hoped that her size would keep her low for a while. No. She must do everything that Poseidon does. She can pull herself up on the upwind side, not just downwind, and balance until she gets to the edge of the cockpit to look at the water. No rest for the parents. But, so proud of her too. While Poseidon's love of legos may land him in engineering, there is no hope for Laralei to be less of a daredevil than me. For those of you who know me, yes, I believe she may be even worse. :) Yes, it is somehow possible.
I think I will wrap it there as it was a nice easy day of recouping. Regular Sunday routine of crepes for breakfast, forgoing the champagne as I didn't want to waste a bottle, and no one else was interested. Lunch was quesadillas. We ended with hotdogs, crackers and pickles to celebrate Scotty's birthday. He chose to save the steaks for a day next week when he is sure he can keep them down. Happy Birthday to our crewmate and to LaJune! I think Grandma is wishing she were with you instead right now. lol
Position at writing: N25.39.431 W158.56.002 @1321 24.6.13
P.S. Did I mention that I would not let the hubby get rid of the boogie boards? Just wait. He gave me a GoPro for Christmas. ;)
We have all become a healthy brown shade, though some of the crew constantly worry about whether they will get too pink. Apparently, they do not find it humorous when I tell them they can go inside to get out of the sun at any time. :) The blankets in the cockpit are used more for face covers while napping right now. Laundry is strung up drying and I managed to finish off Winston Churchill a life by John Keegan in under 24 hours. It is a very good book. I am normally not a fan of autobiographies, as few cover a life without an agenda. But, other than a few mentions of how he was consistent in thought, it was just a good book with a deep yet quick reading historical review. Ok, so guessing you are not reading this for book reviews. The kiddos and I played with some legos and read some books inside for a few hours.
Laralei and Poseidon have found their favorite spot. They each hang onto a winch on the upwind side and watch the waves. Occasionally, they try to lean over, so it requires vigilant attention. Poseidon wants larger waves. Laralei just wants more water. I am not sure that she is correctly applying "more" in this case, but if you ask her questions, she will explain what more means. So, apparently we need to find a bigger body of water than the Pacific. If anyone knows of a shuttle to Europa, she may be ready in a few years. She is already trouble. Poseidon magically regained his sea legs the first day. Sick or not, he was a regular deck monkey. I had hoped that her size would keep her low for a while. No. She must do everything that Poseidon does. She can pull herself up on the upwind side, not just downwind, and balance until she gets to the edge of the cockpit to look at the water. No rest for the parents. But, so proud of her too. While Poseidon's love of legos may land him in engineering, there is no hope for Laralei to be less of a daredevil than me. For those of you who know me, yes, I believe she may be even worse. :) Yes, it is somehow possible.
I think I will wrap it there as it was a nice easy day of recouping. Regular Sunday routine of crepes for breakfast, forgoing the champagne as I didn't want to waste a bottle, and no one else was interested. Lunch was quesadillas. We ended with hotdogs, crackers and pickles to celebrate Scotty's birthday. He chose to save the steaks for a day next week when he is sure he can keep them down. Happy Birthday to our crewmate and to LaJune! I think Grandma is wishing she were with you instead right now. lol
Position at writing: N25.39.431 W158.56.002 @1321 24.6.13
P.S. Did I mention that I would not let the hubby get rid of the boogie boards? Just wait. He gave me a GoPro for Christmas. ;)
23.6.13
Day 1 - Regurgitation and Cleaning (Saturday)
The breakfast cobbler apparently went everywhere in the kitchen last night. So, not only am I bagging up large amounts of soiled laundry, I get to scrub the kitchen floor. Yay! Ok, so yesterday was not all that bad...(I write these in the morning about the previous day.)
We are now running the jib half out and the mizzen. The seas are quite rough, but so blue and Poseidon and Laralei are watching them non-stop. We had 30+ knots and I saw one rail in the water with waves over the other. To me, it was beautiful. Then I get "You're not worried?" I guess I should be but we were running so smooth. The wind had started flattening the seas. I could have just raced on like that forever. Or, at least until we ended up sideways. Luckily, my better half turned on the engine and sent me to the helm to lower the main. But, it was one of those perfect moments at sea.
The little ones are still puking, but not every time they eat. And, they eat like ravenous, well, children at each meal or snack. Hopefully they can spend more time inside tomorrow. Uncle has managed to make it to the v-Berth. He just lays there...all day...not moving...at least he is done puking, I think. He came out and ate dinner last night but not tonight. Both Poseidon and I lost our chili. Laralei, the cracker eater, was probably the smartest of us. And, she was good all night. Yes, I puked. I know, I never get sea sick. These first two days are about the roughest seas we have seen, but at least we are able to keep the heading we want and we haven't had to turn on the engine yet except to reef.
Position at writing: N24.16.835 W158.39.045 @0947 23.6.13 (halfway between Oahu and the Musicians on our map!)
We are now running the jib half out and the mizzen. The seas are quite rough, but so blue and Poseidon and Laralei are watching them non-stop. We had 30+ knots and I saw one rail in the water with waves over the other. To me, it was beautiful. Then I get "You're not worried?" I guess I should be but we were running so smooth. The wind had started flattening the seas. I could have just raced on like that forever. Or, at least until we ended up sideways. Luckily, my better half turned on the engine and sent me to the helm to lower the main. But, it was one of those perfect moments at sea.
The little ones are still puking, but not every time they eat. And, they eat like ravenous, well, children at each meal or snack. Hopefully they can spend more time inside tomorrow. Uncle has managed to make it to the v-Berth. He just lays there...all day...not moving...at least he is done puking, I think. He came out and ate dinner last night but not tonight. Both Poseidon and I lost our chili. Laralei, the cracker eater, was probably the smartest of us. And, she was good all night. Yes, I puked. I know, I never get sea sick. These first two days are about the roughest seas we have seen, but at least we are able to keep the heading we want and we haven't had to turn on the engine yet except to reef.
Position at writing: N24.16.835 W158.39.045 @0947 23.6.13 (halfway between Oahu and the Musicians on our map!)
Day 0 - Murphy in a Box
Dad was referencing the infamous Murphy a number of times in the week before our departure. Apparently, Poseidon decided that was an acceptable name...for a snail. Yes, he and Grandma found a snail. They picked it up, and begged for a box. Murphy is now living in a box by the crew berth eating cabbage. Hopefully, this keeps him out of our hair for the voyage. If this works, however, I cannot vouch for the future safety of snails in Hawaii. They may just become a hot commodity. Need I mention that Poseidon also managed to get a baby lizard in his pocket? No clue how, but it has no tail and is keeping Murphy company. If it lives, I may name it Noah. These are in addition to our two fish Maunu the Second and Mahemahe. Their house lives in the sink when we sail. Apparently, swimming in the tank is hard work when sailing. They eat twice as much food as in port.
In other areas, we have a tear in a batten box, on the main sail, right by those reef points that tore last time...sigh...luckily (?) we have ridiculous enough winds to keep it reefed down until I can fix it. Which is good, as the children decided to spend the night praying to the porcelain god. I told Laralei (Sister just wasn't working for me) that I did not expect to be holding her over the toilet until at least college age. She just giggled. Yes, giggled. While puking her poor, little guts out. At least they are in good humor. The rest of the crew is outside puking, so at least I felt good to be in bed, until I had to strip it at 0300.
OH, and the Day 0 is because we got underway at dinnertime. Not much of a day. And, we left on a Friday, which is apparently not common. Good thing we have Murphy locked up.
In other areas, we have a tear in a batten box, on the main sail, right by those reef points that tore last time...sigh...luckily (?) we have ridiculous enough winds to keep it reefed down until I can fix it. Which is good, as the children decided to spend the night praying to the porcelain god. I told Laralei (Sister just wasn't working for me) that I did not expect to be holding her over the toilet until at least college age. She just giggled. Yes, giggled. While puking her poor, little guts out. At least they are in good humor. The rest of the crew is outside puking, so at least I felt good to be in bed, until I had to strip it at 0300.
OH, and the Day 0 is because we got underway at dinnertime. Not much of a day. And, we left on a Friday, which is apparently not common. Good thing we have Murphy locked up.
17.4.13
Big Bad Boatyard Spiders
l really don't mind cute little household spiders. In fact our spiders and I have come to a tacit agreement. They remain quietly beneath the floorboards eating any other bugs and I don't vacuum them up. One leg above the boards and the vacuum gets a snack. I kept wolf spiders growing up, but until Poseidon and Sister are smart enough to use a terrarium to save the fuzzy little troublemakers they are duly sequestered.
Here's where the problem comes. I return from a month and a half business trip on the mainland to a boat that that just completed a boatyard availability . . . clean/fix/paint everything beneath the waterline while out of the water on what appear to be stilts. It still looks so weird to me. Anyhow, the new Xantrex inverter isn't working, so we have no A/C power, I still have to unpack, and Poseidon loses a Lego head down by the mast. l grab the vacuum to fend off my below deck friends, tell Poseidon to keep Sister occupied, open the floorboards, and
FIND BIG BAD BOATYARD SPIDERS!
Yes. They deserve all caps. There were three of them, and they were not cute nor fuzzy. Ugly brown and black, spindly legged, boat poachers which looked up at me like, "Hey cutie, are you here for lunch? We're hungry!" I tried to vacuum them as a response. Remember that "lack of A/C power" thing? Yeah. But, I got two of those suckers first. The third, calmly perched in his web looked at me. I looked back and thought:
"Ok my cute, little household spiders, there must be some explanation for this. I mean, were you down at the boatyard bar, had one too many flies and brought THIS home? Please tell me you regretted it in the morning."
Then, I noticed it. The Lego head. Right where I would have to reach through not just the web, but through the Spider. I don't think I need to state this, but the Lego is still there and the vacuum is plugged into an extension cord run from our neighbors' boat.
Oh, and I found a partially eaten fuzzy spider stuck to one of the legos I did recover. Cannibal.
3.1.13
Six Months and Counting from Five
We knew we were going to be moving a month ago. So, after taking a month to let it soak in and letting the husband make a detailed list of everything I get to sort out funding for, we are at five months. Where are we going? Back to San Diego from Oahu! :) YAY!
So, the plan is to sail in June. I will be posting some general stuff here labeled 6months if you only want to read that part. I will still randomly post about Poseidon and his sister...still looking for a good pseudonym for her here...maybe it will just be Sister. We'll see. Anyhow, if you want to follow the hop across I will come up with a label for that when we get there.
In case you are curious, we will be using a lot of THRIVE. Check out my Shelf Reliance Independent Consultant blog as we get closer and I will detail out our stores orders there. I may x-post here depending on interest. Any major work I will mention here and link to our business blog for Poseidon Marine Management.
I think that is about it for now. Good night! :)
So, the plan is to sail in June. I will be posting some general stuff here labeled 6months if you only want to read that part. I will still randomly post about Poseidon and his sister...still looking for a good pseudonym for her here...maybe it will just be Sister. We'll see. Anyhow, if you want to follow the hop across I will come up with a label for that when we get there.
In case you are curious, we will be using a lot of THRIVE. Check out my Shelf Reliance Independent Consultant blog as we get closer and I will detail out our stores orders there. I may x-post here depending on interest. Any major work I will mention here and link to our business blog for Poseidon Marine Management.
I think that is about it for now. Good night! :)
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