Happy Halloween!We’re celebrating All Hallow’s Eve aboard with a big bag of candy corn smuggled to us by Miranda’s buddy Teri. Surprisingly, we haven’t had many Trick-or-Treaters out tonight.Miranda doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth, so I have a feeling that I’m going to be eating the whole bag myself.Jacked up blood sugar is a really great way to break up the monotony of cruising.TIME TO GO RIDE BIKES!TIME TO SWAB THE DECKS!WHO WANTS TO GO UP THE MAST?!Haven’t figured out a good costume yet.Possibly a sailor?A pirate?Or maybe a mermaid?Not much else in the costume department ’round these parts.I wanted to go as a ghost this year but Miranda said we need the sails intact.She doesn’t feel the need for a costume, saying, “I pretty much resemble a hobo right about now.”We’ll have to find her a stick and a handkerchief.
You’d think the open ocean would be a spooky place on Halloween, what with the web-footed sea monsters, shipwrecked souls lost to the deep, and devious merfolk all floating about.In actuality, it’s another beautiful moonlit night.The only scary thing out here is our hygiene and diet.We’re pushing canned meat since it will be confiscated in New Zealand.BLTs have been on the lunch menu with crispy Spam instead of bacon!We still have ghoul-green lettuce and blood-red tomatoes to go on the sandwiches.They’re horrifyingly good!No pumpkins floating about, and we’re out of coconuts, so we made a dozen zombie eggs for fun!It’s tough to draw on a round object on a bucking boat.
Leaving Fiji we encountered fair winds and flat sailing for a few hours inside the barrier reef.We were welcomed back to the high seas outside the pass by 25 knot winds on the beam and 2 meters seas.It got pretty raucous with foam blasting our bows and the dishes rattling in the cupboard as if by juggling poltergeists.A bright moon lighting up the sea helped ease us back into our night watches.We’re sailing as close to the wind as possible, and still not quite pointing at our waypoint.We put on Scopolamine patches right out of the chute and have felt pretty darn good even below in the heavy seas.The medication gives the impression that one has been chewing on cotton balls and sawdust though.Mlehth…
Winds moderated through the night and into the afternoon.Tonight we are motoring through the forecasted lull with mirror seas with only a whisper of breeze.We are deviating from our intended course to head more directly to a point 500 miles north of Cape North in New Zealand.Will have to wait to see how the wind fills in as the cycle of highs and lows progresses farther south.
After relaxing in Las Perlas for a few days, it was time to head back to the long to-do list that awaited us in civilization.We jumped back into readying the boat, provisioning, and finishing up all those important items that you just must do before you even think about crossing the world’s largest ocean.
Let me share with you the intricacies of our pre-passage to-do list. Are you beside yourself with excitement? I know I am.
First of all, our drogue was towards the top of our MUST-DO list. We decided that after spending money like it’s going out of style, we’d save some bucks by making our own drogue. The boat didn’t come with one, and after some research, we realized the general consensus is the series drogue is the best option out there. After finding the plans on Sailrite.com, we figured we were up for the challenge. I don’t really want to know how many hours of my life I’ve devoted to this device who’s purpose is to slow down a vessel that averages little more than my own despicable jogging speed, but let’s just say it’s been many hours. Very. Many. Hours.
Cones had to cut from fabric, webbing attached, sewn into a cone shape, spliced into our 3-strand nylon rope, then the final touch- eye splices were added to each end.
But it’s done!! Glory be to all things holy, it is done!
General maintenance, like servicing our winches and lubing all pulley tracks, is beyond important before all the wear and tear your boat takes while at sea for weeks.
Liza has become our weather guru, and she’s put in many hours researching weather patterns and how to download the correct documents via our SSB radio, pactor modem, and airmail software. No small feat!
Our boat has required a few major projects amongst the basic preparations, one of them included getting our portable generator working for those windless, sunless days at sea. Sounds easy, but when you factor in having to do wiring in this position:
it’s not such a quick job.
We’ve fixed leaks, added more lighting, sewn up holes, made a cover for our dinghy motor, done plumbing, bought spares for anything and everything we think might break, contacted agents in the Galapagos and French Polynesia, filled our diesel tanks, our gasoline tanks, our propane tanks, and finally finished the list with the grocery shopping…
Oh, the grocery shopping! We’ve set out to stock our boat for four months of provisions, which required no less than four different grocery store runs. We started at, you guessed it, Costco! (well, the Panamanian version called Pricemart) Filled up three carts full then, we, very sillily, proceeded to the general supermarket just down to street (Riba Smith), without making a stop back at the marina in between. Filled up another three carts full. Both the packing boys at Riba Smith (yes, we needed two) audibly laughed at us when we open our trunk and they saw just how full it already was. But we managed. Pete drove and Liza and I packed ourselves in amongst our groceries.
I have never in my life seen a car more jam packed full of food! God knows where it will fit on the boat. Looks even more menacing organized on the dock. Denny has the most important stash!
But, of course, we found some time to have fun! Casco Viejo and mojitos! Great combo.
And, we took a day to escape to nature in the Parque Nacional Soberanía, only 20 kilometers from the city.
Sadly, we bid farewell to Jeanne and Denny. They set off to explore a few sights outside the city and, probably, escape our grinding to-do list of tasks that we put them through during their stay on the Tayrona. 😉
We’ve filled our last few days with trips to the fruit and vegetable market…
…and attempting to find space for said fruits and veggies on the boat.
We spent our final day in the city cooking up our first week of meals while on passage and getting checked out of the country.
