4/10/11 (Not sure if this one posted correctly from yesterday so I’m sending it again, sorry if it’s redundant)

Position: 08 degrees, 36 minutes North; 119 degrees, 11 minutes South

We’re making good time and saw a 24 hour run of 155 nautical miles today. We’re consistently doing around 7 knots (I even saw 11 knots last night as we slid down a good size wave) but we’re paying for it a bit. The wind is up in the low twenties which is no big deal, but there is a very confused sea which is making life a little uncomfortable. Wilson can’t get the boat in a groove because just as we start sliding down a nice swell, a cross swell from a different direction bumps us sideways resulting in a huge roll first to one side, then the other, then back again. This process is almost constant since yesterday evening. It means you can’t stand, walk or otherwise do anything without either grabbing something with both hands or wedging yourself between two parts of the boat, or both in order to keep from flying across the cabin or cockpit. In fact, I’m sitting sideways on my bunk with my back against the wall and my feet firmly placed against the side of the cabin in order to write this.

By the way, we did pass 1000 miles today around 1230.

So, instead of Ann waking me this morning a little before sunrise for my morning watch, I was treated to a splash of water that came through the porthole on a particularly deep roll. Nice sunrise though. Lots of tradewind “puffies”, little cumulous clouds that have flat bottoms at about a thousand feet and rise about another thousand.

Saw a little lightning last night off in the distance. We’re nearing the ITCZ, which right now has been moving around between about 5 and 7 degrees North. Another day or so I imagine and we’ll be dealing with navigating a path through it and on to the equator. In the meantime, ITCZ means we’re going to start seeing squally weather with lightning, wind, rain, etc-oh wait, we’re already getting some of that. 😉

Ann has a cool new boat project; refuse reduction. Or more specifically refuse volume reduction. Organic and paper goes over the side, but plastics, foils and such have to be stored somewhere and our experience has been that they just take up valuable space. Ann has found that a pair of scissors does wonders. I’m sitting looking at a one gallon zip lock bag full of colorful looking bits of plastic that have been cut up. Mostly Fresca bottles (for our Charisma’s!) and juice boxes but when you cut them into one inch squares, they fit in about one tenth the space (maybe less). And they are kind of decorative too with all the pretty colors and shapes! (With the large ziplock bag half full I have “reduced” 5 plastic bags, 2 Fresca bottles, 6 snack wrappers,1 paper towel bag, 5 tea/hot chocolate wrappers, 1 box juice and the preformed lettuce box. Not bad!)

That’s about it for now. No fishing today. I had the line out this morning, then thought; “what the hell am I going to do in these waves if I catch something?” and brought the line back in. Oh, and no bath either. I was looking forward to a bucket bath, but it’s too rough out so I had to settle for a “handi-wipe” bath. Cooking suffers when it’s rough as well. Dinner’s going to be “basic box” tonight since it’s no fun cooking when the boat’s rolling through 60 degrees and you’re getting thrown around the galley (both Ann and I have bruises all over where we use parts of bodies as cushions while trying to keep the hands free for slicing and dicing and such). So, I’m going to sauté some green beans leftover from last night with some bacon bits Ann bought by mistake (the packaging looks like salad with all the pictures of lettuce on it) and the whole bunch is going to get dumped in a pot of Mac and Cheese. But it will taste really good, ’cause everything does out here. And we will be balancing this with our new favorite no lettuce salad – ¼ cubes of a jicama, carrot, green apple and mango. Splash this with the juice of half of a lime and we are scurvy free too!

Position: 07 degrees, 22 minutes North; 121 degrees, 30 minutes South

Wing and wing with the storm trysail. We're still doing 6-8 knots with this rig!

Charisma’s having a lot of fun here in the trade winds, but we’re suffering a bit (we’re hearing the same from others in the fleet on the radio too). It’s gusting into the mid-twenties, whitecaps -actually the tops of most of the waves blown off-are as far as you can see across the very blue sea. I spoke with one boat named Aka who was going wing and wing and broached, completely turned around and was going backward with the main on the preventer and jib on the pole. His boat is an older IOR boat, but he’s cruised extensively and said he’d never seen it happen before, and didn’t want to ever do it again! Wave heights are averaging around six feet, with the occasional ten footer towering above, to get our attention. While Charisma is kicking up her heels and dancing down waves at 8 knots and more, we’re getting slammed around the boat (more than usual). I’ve been trying to slow her down a bit, but we’re down to the double reefed main and the jib is furled about as far as it will go. She’s completely under control; just a wild ride. Wilson is doing an admirable job of keeping dead downwind in the large waves and ample wind. The next step if needed will be to take the main down and hoist the storm trysail. It’s already hanked on the mast on its own dedicated track and in a bag, so all I have to do is hoist it (after wrestling the main down).

Booby Project Discontinued

We want to thank those of you who contributed so thoughtfully to the Booby Guano Aphrodisiac project, but sadly it is being discontinued. Turns out that Booby Guano once harvested and destined for the mass market needs to be refrigerated. Field testing suggests applying cold booby guano has the opposite of the desired stimulating effect. Also, we’ve run out of boobies. We’re well beyond their range now. So, again thanks for you entries and we’ll note that Jerry is definitely the winner with his name;” Booby Blossoms”. Jerry, we’ll save you some of the test product as a prize.

On a more happy subject, we do think we have another idea for a product to keep us funded in our cruising. Flying Fish Mobiles. There’s tons of ’em on the deck every morning. We just dry them and mount them. We’re working on the smell thing…. They will be great entertainment for your cat!

Last night So, it’s dark, around 0100. The moon’s not up yet. The waves are so big, I can hear the bigger ones coming up behind us even though I can’t see them. Then suddenly, in the blackness, the top of the wave explodes just behind us in a phosphorescent, eerie, white glow, breaking to either side of us with an almost deafening roar; white water boiling off the top of the wave, expending itself trying to get into the cockpit where I sit just watching and waiting for the one that might make it aboard.

Around all this, 360 degrees of crystal clear starlight, many old friends from previous passages winking at me, welcoming. But on the far horizon, to the South where we’re headed across the equator, distant lightning flickers in the night sky. Neptune is whispering off in the distance; “Prepare yourselves Pollywogs, it won’t be easy”.

We’re at 07 degrees 32 minutes right now as I write this. According to weather reports the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) begins from anywhere around 4 to 5 degrees. This is where the powerful tradewinds from the Northern hemisphere meet the trades from the Southern hemisphere. Unpredictable weather awaits often including squalls and lightning. Since we’re not going due South, but approaching the equator from an angle (course of 220 magnetic), we actually have about 360 miles or two to three days before we get there.