Author: Pete

Location: 28°18.158S’ 173°27.441E’

Date: Nov 3 – 4, 2015

Day 6 and 7 at sea.

Yesterday brought glassy seas and not even a whisper of wind.  Motoring in a sailboat feels sacrilegious to me, but an idyllic day made up for the fuel burned and the permeating rumble of the engines.  With almost no clouds for depth perception the horizon seems to stretch away forever in all directions, blending with the sky at the offing and giving the impression of being in the middle of nowhere.  Ah, impression-schmeshun!  We really are in the middle of nowhere!  Being becalmed leaves the sea a reflective surface, not a ripple to be seen.  Long period rollers still lumber through, creating an endless plain of mirrored knolls.  It’s a scene from Alice in Wonderland, hard to describe without making it seem like we’re hallucinating.  Staring out at it for hours does indeed make one feel disconnected with reality.

Great bio-luminescence at night in the still water.  Our wake is a ribbon of shimmering green behind us, like an afterburner trail out the tail pipe of a fighter jet.  We’re not going quite that fast, but a guy can dream, right?  Between the hulls where the bow wakes converge the glow is bright enough to eerily light up the underside of the boat.  I sat out on the trampoline my entire watch in a stupor, fixated on the lights under us, the flashing squid passing by, and the millions of tiny, glittering eyes out in the water.  It’s a little like aqueous northern lights or a sailor’s lava lamp.

Today we had more wind to sail and made good use of it. Looks like we’re in for some heavier weather in the next day or two. We made a few more meals to stash in the fridge, including a batch of brownies (thanks Glabs!), fueled the main tanks from our jerry cans, and took longer watches to get a real night’s sleep.  I spent a little time working on Belinda, the starboard diesel engine, who is making some knocking sounds and is taking longer to fire up these days.  Wendy, the port engine, is leaking a touch of sea water into the engine compartment from the raw water pump.  It’s nothing the bilge pumps can’t handle.  She used to be house broken but has had a little relapse lately.  Don’t tell her you know; she’s embarrassed about it.  Both are running just fine aside from their little quirks.  Tayrona is ready for the fight, and I suppose we are too.

In this neck of the woods high and low pressure systems sweep over Australia towards New Zealand, bringing heavier weather between them. You’re almost guaranteed to hit an ugly patch on the trip unless you have a particularly speedy boat. Per the recommendation of the salty sailors who ply these waters, we plan to encounter the front at 30 degrees south where it’s weaker than if we ran into it closer to New Zealand. We’re having some trouble connecting with the radio to email I think due to the front between us and the closest relay station in Australia. We do have regular SSB contact with Gulf Harbor Radio out of New Zealand, so fear not if you don’t hear from us in the next couple of days while we wage war with Poseidon.