Choppy seas this morning, so I did very little. Yesterday was smooth and I scrubbed our cockpit chairs, cleaned up a bunch, organized some, etc. Today, not so much. Got some trickles of rain - need more to wash the black Panama soot from the boat. I swabbed the decks and cleaned most of our hard cockpit cover with the bits of fresh water. I do better outside with the breeze. The seas seem smoother this evening; think we got past the Punta Mala mixed seas as we got out of the gulf.
Food supplies are doing well, eating our fresh. In the Galapagos they take anything that looks bruised or old. May as well eat it now and resupply there. Supposed to be cheaper and fresh out there. Same theory with the fuel - it was OK to motor out of the choppy seas when we had no wind because the fuel in Ecuador is cheap and we can resupply there again.
Our friends, the Ferrers, from Spain who were running a sailing school in Contadora, Panama were with us for a couple of trips to and from Panama/Contadora. Very nice family. Marti helped me sew cushion covers for our living room. Cindy's husband Nathan donated the cushions! They turned out great! The Ferrer family gave us sewing machine as a gift. I made a French flag on our way to Contadora. Now I need to make an Ecuadorian flag. I hadn't really planned on flag making. I bought material for $2/yard that was blue, white and red like a French flag that I was going to hand sew. Ecuador is yellow, blue and red. I don't have yellow. I'm eyeballing our materials to see what I can use. I may cut the French flag material (I have extra) into stripes, then I have yellow food coloring to stain the white stripe?? Think it'll work?
I may be able to let you know soon. There is a logo on the middle of the flag, but only the government buildings fly it. Without a logo is also accepted as a national flag, so we are OK there.
Going to send mails and relax and go to bed early I think. I like to sleep a lot when it's under way, especially rough seas. Now we are moving smoothly, but I think I can sleep anyway. Courage is taking watch until around midnight and Cassidy has already gone to sleep to take watch when Courage goes to bed. Cassidy did 11-2 am last night, but woke Courage twice for issues (as do I). I try to do days while the kids are up and they get to take naps. I go to bed early so I can get up around 6 am and get started.
Goodnight, will check our mails again soon.
Shannon
Day 2
The night was quite fascinating, with gorgeous phosphorescence lighting up the many fish and the visiting dolphins. The entire way out of the Gulf was filled with supertankers going both ways. The wind steadily picked up through the night, and with just the women and I working the sails I managed to get the Spinnaker Sail stuck. So no longer were we able to adjust the Spinnaker to the wind, but rather had to adjust our course to keep the Spinnaker filled. In other words it was a fantastic night with just the right amount of learning, and fun!!
Today we hit a huge swath of red tide. I guess no more shellfish for a while. The wind finally did pick up again this afternoon, and right from where we are headed. But the advantage is that as we sail tight to the wind we generate our own wind, and hence can sail even faster. It is almost like a wind generation system.
The ocean is starting to smooth out some, but there are still some fairly strong currents and the associated waves. Looks like another fantastic night!
We are all doing super! --and having great meals.
Courage
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