Wednesday, May 25th, we have left the Galapagos not quite 8 days ago and we have traveled 1046 NM on the pacific ocean. A little less than 2000 NM more to go. We have had some picture perfect sailing days with blue skies surrounded by deep blue water and a nice wind of 17 KTS which put us on a broad reach, among waves of about 9 feet (3 M).
Sometimes it feels like we are on a flying carpet, with winds of 17-20 KTS and sometimes it is like we are sitting on a rocking horse when winds die down into the low teens.
We have now settled into a routine, where I do the last shift of the night from 3 AM till 6 AM and while I am sleeping Stefan gets the boat ready for the day. I usually get up by 9.30 and then we have breakfast, where we decide what to eat for dinner. We have dinner at 3-4 PM because then it is still light out and much easier to cook and watch the boat and sails at the same time. In the evening we only eat a little snack. We are missing some physical challenges, like a walk or bycicle tour. The only physical challange we have on board is trying not to fall down, so we have to hold on or stand up with our legs spread out.
During the day we read, cook, sleep a little more, adjust the sails when needed, play rummycub, Stefan made a puzzle of 1000 pieces, and make plans for the future. We caught already 3 small tunas. We only put out a line when all the fish we caught has been eaten. In the evening we watch a movie or series. We are currently watching “An American Crime Story”, the OJ Simpson story. Really good and incredible how this unfolds. During my watch from 9 PM till 12 PM I watch “The Good Wife” (season 6) or a movie. From 3 AM till 6 AM I try to catch a little sleep during my 20 minute intervals which is sometimes frustrating since you cannot really fall into a deep sleep. We have only seen 4 other boats from afar during our trip so far. I long for a full night sleep, but we have still 14 more days to go (at least).
At 105 degrees West we had to turn back our clock one hour and we will have to do this again at 120 degrees and at 135 degrees West.
The first island on the Marquesas we are sailing to is Hiva Oa, the island where Jacques Brel and Paul Gauguin are burried. Apparently the Marquesas are gorgeous !
You can always send us text email (no attachments) while we are on the Pacific to: sanuk@decuypere.org.