Author: Pete

Location: 06°41.359S’ 103°59.124W’

Date: 11:00 April 5 to 11:00 April 6

Day 7 at sea.

It’s Easter Sunday and one full week on the water! We had home made granola for breakfast and followed it up with an Easter basket: five pounds of Jelly Bellies smuggled aboard by a castaway! Thanks Mom! We’ve been trying to ration them, as dialysis clinics are few and far between ’round these parts. We’ve only eaten about a half pound so far. It’s a good boat snack because they all have different flavors and you can’t mow handfuls at a time like popcorn, puppy chow, peanuts, M&M’s, pretzels, Chex Mix… am I giving the impression that we go through a lot of snacks aboard?

Weather continues to be good for sailing, if not for comfort. 13-16 knot winds, making 6.5 knots on a beam reach. Had another PR day with 157 miles covered. The waves on the beam still make for a rowdy ride, but we’re getting used to it.

It’s funny because topside on watch at night is gorgeous. There’s always some light noise of the wind generator whirring, the sheets creaking, and the water rushing by, splashing. But down below it sounds like the boat is coming apart. The wavelets slap on the underside of the bridge deck, and bounce off of the hulls, reflecting off one, smacking into the other. It’s like being in a bass drum sometimes. The bulkhead joints groan. You get used to it, but you can even feel the impacts through the fiberglass. Once you pop up topside, it’s whisper quiet though, and out on deck the boat shrugs off all but the biggest waves that come in broadside to us. When it sounds and feels scary down below, go up top!

The other boats in the Tangaroa Trans-Pacific Fleet (cool name, eh? The Scots came up with it!) are doing well. There are two or three 60 footers that can really cut through the chop. They’re averaging 7 or 8 knots. In calm seas with wind we’d be able to give them a run for their money, but not out in the big waves. So we’re hanging in there with the normal boats. Nice to hear everyone on radio every day, see where they are and hear some yarns about fish caught.

No fish today for us. Trolled the waters with a very unhappy flying fish who ended up on our deck. No bites though. We made up for it with pizzas for lunch, and Greek chicken, potatoes, and our last surviving broccoli for dinner.

Other than my poor fishing skills, all is well on Tayrona.