Position: 01 degrees, 30 minutes NORTH; 146 degrees, 38 minutes west 119 nm day We’re back – so to speak. Last night at 0015 we crossed the equator!

We're at "zero, zero" latitude crossing from South Pacific to North Pacific.

This is what the equator looks like...on the GPS 😉

Since it was late, we were in the middle of our respective watches. I was asleep, Ann was on watch, but we had agreed to celebrate, so with great difficulty I got up to recognize the momentous occasion. As the degrees and minutes of latitude counted down, I was in the cabin with a camera to capture the nav instruments showing the “zero, zero” latitude. Ann was in the cockpit with the iPad (which is connected wirelessly to the GPS and other nav stuff) ready to take a screen shot of the chartplotter at “zero, zero”. At the designated moment, we both took a picture and it worked! Now it’s time to celebrate.

We had a bottle of champagne in the fridge and made up some cheese and crackers. Then sitting under a beautiful starry night you could hear the “pop” of the champagne cork. A substantial “tot” to Neptune and then a glass each for Ann and me, we toasted coming back across on what has been an amazing adventure. Of course it’s not near over, but this is a milestone that needed to be recognized.

So…We have now almost completed “Part One” of the second leg of this journey from NZ back the US. This part was the positioning segment from Papeete to the equator. We needed to not only get north to the equator, but also make enough east to have a good angle to Hawaii from here. I think we have achieved the easting we need. “Part Two” starts in a day or two. It’s the crossing of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone or ITCZ. The dreaded place where dragons and sea monsters live; it is the boundary between the clockwise rotating winds of the northern hemisphere and the anti-clockwise rotating winds of the southern hemisphere. You can almost picture the chaos the can occur when the two meet. We get to sail through it. Thunderstorms, swirling winds, heavy rain, you know all the fun stuff. We enter this point at about 5 degrees north and exit about 9 degrees – or a total of about 240 or so miles. Roughly two days sailing – or motoring if the wind doesn’t cooperate. We’re not going to wait around for perfect conditions. If it’s not windy enough we’re turning on the engine and getting the heck out of there. Then, as we exit the ITCZ, hopefully as forecast at about 9 degrees north, we enter Segment Three, which is the final push through the trade winds into Hawaii.

The good news is there is a low pressure system up to our north and it seems to be pulling the wind up right through the equator and the ITCZ. The result appears to be a squishing of the zone – it’s not as wide as it was a couple days ago – and the fact that we actually have a consistent wind right now. It’s SSE at about 15 so we have a nice ride in a practically cloudless and very starry night sky.

The bad news is the low is turning into a tropical depression, which in turn is going to become a hurricane by Thursday. Although it’s due north of us, we should be far enough away to not be affected. Looks like we’ll be at least 300 miles south as it develops and then moves NW toward Hawaii. Hey, that’s here we’re going! “Follow that hurricane!” Haven’t you always wanted to say that?

Anyway, we’re slowing Charisma down a bit and watching the weather reports very carefully to make sure we don’t run up into it.

Position: 00 degrees, 24 minutes south; 147 degrees, 04 minutes west 130 nm day

As I write this blog Bob is below getting dinner and we are just 29 miles south of the equator. Wow. This is an emotional point in our journey. We just watched the sun set and the first of the stars arrive. We have been watching two planets chase each other across the sky during this passage. Jupiter and Venus are so bright they are always the first to greet us after sunset. But tonight we had a special treat.

If you click and enlarge this you can just see the two planets in the upper left third of the sky.

As the sun’s glow dimmed we could see the Southern Cross directly behind us. Such a sight will forever be in our memories. But as we mentioned last night, we are nearing the Northern Hemisphere and that means the Big Dipper. And sure enough, as the Southern Cross saluted us from the south we looked north and were greeted by the entire Big Dipper welcoming us to the Northern Hemisphere. We can’t quite see Polaris, the “North Star” as it is still below the horizon since we are south of the equator.

One of the symbols on my tattoo is a stylized star. Three years ago, I asked Fati, the tattoo artist in the Marquesas, to create a design that encompassed both the Southern Cross and the Big Dipper. The Southern Cross is an obvious request…we crossed the equator, we saw the constellation. The Big Dipper is a special constellation for me. I am one of seven kids. In fact I am the middle child. It is hard to make seven children feel special and unique. I am sure it was exhausting. My mother took me outside one night when I was feeling like just one of many and pointed to the Big Dipper. “Do you see the Big Dipper, Ann? How many stars are there?” Seven, of course. “But look again,” she said. “Do you see the middle star? Do you see how it connects the pot to the handle?” Sure. “It is the most important one. That’s you, my middle star.”

I have wonderful memories of life in the South Pacific. Amazing friends in New Zealand, wonderful cruising friends and memories of a specific, very special village in Fulanga. But I LOVE seeing the Big Dipper again. We will celebrate as we cross the equator (not quite seeing it in the dark) but we will put a note in a bottle, drop it over the side and count our blessings. Hello Northern Hemisphere!

And, here’s some pictures of 4th of July aboard Charisma

Dinner was hot dogs - sort of. Ann put Vienna Sausages in our mac and cheese to come as close as we could...

...then we topped it off with s'mores cooked over the stove. Yay!

Position: 04 degrees, 45 minutes south; 147 degrees, 48 minutes west 127 nm day

And dolphins are about all we have to report on today. It’s another warm, flat, not too windy day. About 8 knots ENE all day and 4.5 knots boatspeed.

Dolphins.

Looking ahead, we’re tracking a tropical depression at 10N, 155W and we’re looking to stay away from that. So, with that in mind, we’re glad we have tracked east and are continuing to angle more east if we can to stay away from that thing. The good news is that it looks like we’ll catch the edge of it where it’s pulling 15 knot south winds through the ITCZ, so instead of motoring through the doldrums, we may be able to sail through. We’ll see.

As I type this at 1945 hours after dinner the wind has filled in for the first time today at around 12 knots. A veritable “blow”. AND, more importantly instead of the ENE we’ve had it’s more like ESE which means we can adjust sails out (“crack off”) and enjoy a smoother ride paralleling the waves. OK, I have to go adjust sails now.

Position: 06 degrees, 49 minutes south; 147 degrees, 59 minutes west

Just another stunning day. Could use a touch more wind, but we’re rolling along at 5 to 6 knots with 10 or so knots of wind so can’t really complain. Hardly any clouds all last night, today and now this evening. Ann and I just spent half an hour sitting on the cabin looking out over the ocean watching the full moon rise. Just beautiful.

So…JHam, your comment yesterday comparing food selection on Charisma with that of “sailors of yore” was classic! We were in hysterics rolling on the cabin floor. Further to that, I guess the British Royal Navy would frown on tonight’s proposed fare: Smoked salmon on a toasted crouton with cream cheese, beetroot chutney and home grown sprouts.

I should ask the yacht Arnementia what real British sailors would say about this. Is it hard tack, spotted dick and a glass of port to toast the queen or does Jon (an exemplar of the Royal Yacht Squadron if there ever was one) secretly yearn for cream puffs, French cheese and a glass of chardonnay whilst on passage? What say you?

On to other business. It’s now 0400 on my watch. Could tonight actually be perfection? If not, it’s actually about as close as you can get. It’s a balmy and very comfortable 75 degrees Fahrenheit right now. There’s a stunning full moon illuminating our path – so no lights required to move around. The sea is softly whispering to me as Charisma effortlessly slides due north through the night. There’s just enough, and not too much, wind to push us gently along at a comfortable pace. Pinch me!

And, a surprise meeting at around 1300 today at 07 degrees south and 148 degrees west. We sighted another sailboat! Over a period of a couple hours we caught up with them and they eventually closed the final mile with us by sailing over to say “hello”. In the middle of the south pacific. Cool. Keely and Nate on the Hans Christian 33, “Insouciance” from Canada were on board. They are bound from Bora Bora to Hawaii. Whereas we’re looking to cross the equator between 147 and 148 west, they are headed more east to around 142, so after chatting a bit across the water, they “sheeted back in” and our paths diverged. What a nice surprise.

Is that another boat on the horizon?

Turned out to be a nice Canadian couple on the Hans Christian 33

Position: 08 degrees, 37 minutes south; 140 degrees, 29 minutes west 120 mile day

As my mind was wandering last night, as it does on a six hour watch during the dark hours of 0200 to 0800, I got to thinking about what the difference between being “out here” versus “back there”. Other than the obvious physical differences of being in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean, the real difference is the fact that we’re pretty much disconnected from everything. It’s lovely. So, if you want to experience what it’s like to be out here, you can! Turn off your Google, shut down the TV, radio, cell phone and email. Disconnect the internets. Can you do that for a few hours? Get rid of all that stuff and let your mind wander. It’s wonderful. You will find yourself actually thinking instead of just processing.

So, after my watch ended and I got my mid-morning nap, I came upon deck to find the wind had eased down to about 8 knots, the seas flattened and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. You could look around 360 degrees and see the same horizon where blue sky met blue water and a dark blue line. On the one hand total isolation. On the other, total freedom. Hmmm. And not to get too philosophical, I should mention that we both also took baths today. Warm weather, not too bumpy – we didn’t even need to heat the water. Heavenly!

We also had a pleasant encounter out of the blue (so to speak) when our friends the dolphins came to play. A couple dozen came by for 10 minutes or so and danced around the boat. Ann danced for them as well. She and they seem to enjoy that.

And now the moon has risen in full glory. The reflection on the water is like a special path direct to Charisma. The moonlight is so bright it makes our headlamps unnecessary. (Of course we look very cool wearing them so we wear them but have no need to turn them on.)

Well that’s our story for this July First. Ann has announced that we will have a celebration aboard Charisma on the 4th. Stay tuned to find out what it is. Also, we have a bottle of champagne (from our friends back in NZ, Mary and Dave on Kismet) going into the fridge for the equator crossing in about 8 degrees (a degrees equals 60 nautical miles).

And…why not, we’ll put a note in it and toss it over the side.

Position: 10 degrees, 41 minutes south; 148 degrees, 29 minutes west 145 nm day

On days like this where there’s not much to do it’s the little things that you remember. Today, when Ann handed up our chicken sandwiches (on the last of our French baguettes), the sandwich had a tiki-type umbrella in it. What a fun surprise. We got these umbrellas in our drinks somewhere in Mexico four years ago and have saved them. Fun to have them show up today.

Finally, the umbrellas we've been carrying since Mexico have been used!

Other than that, today has been pretty basic. Do your watch, sleep, eat, etc. The wind has eased a touch and I shook out the second reef. The wind has also gone east, so we have cracked off a bit. Still heading about due north, but now more like 70 degrees off the wind (and waves), so it’s a little more comfortable. We’re almost paralleling them instead of punching into them. I’ve opened the big hatch on top of the cabin for a little ventilation – I’m hoping we won’t see a rough wave dump over the cabin top, but it’s soooo hot and stuffy down below. These temps are ripening all the produce faster than we would hope, so we’re eating a lot of fruit and veggies before they go bad. Oh well – like I said last night, we have to have something to complain about.

Ann’s also cooking dinner tonight. What a treat. We were both hoping for fish as we’ve finally put a line out, but no joy. So we’re having tortilla soup. I can smell it cooking up here in the cockpit. You really start to crave spicy, salty stuff like that on a passage.

Beautiful sunset on the port side and moonrise on the starboard. Looks like a promising night!

How's this for a sunset!

…warm wind, (fairly) gentle seas. Position: 12 degrees, 50 minutes south; 149 degrees, 12 minutes west 136 NM day

The conditions are pretty good considering the direction we’re heading. We always need SOMETHING to complain about, but it’s warm, the wind is around 15-20 and the seas we’re kind of heading into aren’t huge so we’re really pretty happy all things considered. We do have a double reef in and we did have to close all the hatches since we’re taking the occasionally wave over the bow and down the decks and sometimes the cabin top, but it could be waaay worse. This is a nice window and we’re basically enjoying it.

Nice and gentle...

...and pretty!

It’s evening right now and the Southern Cross is following us – ducking in and out of the clouds – right on our stern. We’re able to make a little east of north right now which is right on plan. In fact we’re within about 10 miles laterally of our planned route (so far). The moon is so bright we don’t need lights to see what we’re doing. It’s also lighting the low “puffies” (cumulous clouds) in a most dramatic fashion. There won’t be much reading tonight given all the beauty there is to watch all around us.

My only issue is I’m still on “zombie patrol”. There have been enough sail adjustments the last two days as we have settled into the trades that I still haven’t had a solid sleep. An hour here and there, but no deep sleep, so I’m hoping (cross fingers) that when I finish this, that I can get a solid deep sleep. Fortunately Ann has managed to get some decent blocks of sleep that has helped her kick the cold she picked up in Papeete.

Position: 15 degrees, 10 minutes south; 149 degrees, 30 minutes west 108 nm day

Ann had the great idea for a nice dinner on the main cabin top. There’s a beautiful moon, the sky’s clear, we have about 12 knots wind and it’s at least 80 degrees F out. Great idea! So, I cooked one of our vacuum packed coconut green curry with rice. Service was through the mid-cabin porthole and we enjoyed a wonderful dinner by moonlight on the middle of the South Pacific Ocean. Such things memories are made of. How lucky we are!

The last 24 hours has been consistently warm, but the wind is up and down. Last night started overcast, then the clouds went away and we had a lovely moon. It set around 0330 and we had great stars the rest of the night. But the wind is sometimes barely 6 knots, then up to 15 then down to 6. I can’t complain too much given it’s not very strenuous sailing, but in that range the sails need to be re-trimmed often as they stretch a bit and the shape changes significantly. Most of the morning we just sat and barely moved.

But, we’re doing about 5.5 knots right now in about 12 or so knots and this may be the wind that settles in for us. The forecast did show light air for our first two days, so here’s crossing fingers that our real 10-15 has finally settled in.

We’re just passing west of the SW most of the Tuamotus. Mataiya is some twenty or so miles to our east. The next island we need to “watch out for” is Caroline Island in the Line Island group some 300 miles ahead.

OK, not much else to report. Today is “zombie day”, also known as “day two” of the passage. We’re not completely in a groove yet, so very sleepy/tired, which is why I’m ending this and going to bed!

Position: 16 degrees, 59 minutes south; 149 degrees, 24 minutes west

We’re just about 5 miles abeam Tetiaroa, north of Tahiti. We left today at 1230 with a Three Manta Ray Salute. A couple miles outside the reef, I saw a big splash out of the corner of my eye. At first I thought maybe a whale, but as I scanned the sea, just 50 yards away, up blasts a manta ray, then another and another. They were 6-8 feet wide, jumping 5 feet high…and doing backflips!! Crazy! What a fun way to leave French Polynesia.

Adios Morea.

We aren’t actually “out” of French Polynesia, but we have fully checked out of the “country” and we intend our next stop to be Hawaii. We’re basically going north skirting west of the Tuamotus, although if the winds allow we’ll go a couple hundred miles more to the east as we head north. That gives us more options as we get ready to turn for Hawaii in 1500 miles or so at around 15 degrees north latitude. At that point the winds sometimes come from the northeast and we want to be prepared for that.

It’s a nice change right now to be heading out on a passage with the wind around 12 knots, waves around 3 feet and the temp at 80 degrees F. We’re in shorts, t-shirts and bare feet at 1930 in the evening. It’s “winter” down here so the days are short. It’s dark and we’re hoping the clouds will go away so we can see the moon, but all in all, a nice night.