Another pleasant day at sea, could have been any day!
Last night a 105 foot ship passed just in front of us, about 2.5 miles, at about 1:00 am. They came up on our AIS and Courage followed them. He called them on the radio just to confirm not to change course or speed and all was well. I'm curious where they were headed being out here. China to Chile? US to Chile? Around the Cape? The ships name was Orion's Iris if anyone knows how to check it's course or shipping route it may be interesting. Maybe more interesting to me than to those who are landlocked, but if anyone can find out easily, it would be interesting what routes intersect "the middle of nowhere."
We did our check-ins on the net this morning. We've lost our definitive lead!! Moana Roa, another Aussie cat with 3 kids, is catching us! They were only about 12 miles north and 13 miles east of us. They gained an additional 30 miles on us yesterday. Good for them!! They apparently are relatively fast on other crossings and bets were definitely placed on their winning the race. I can see why! I've half kept an eye out for them on the horizon as I expect there's at least a 50% chance they could pass us today. Haven't seen them, but that means nothing. If they stayed north, we may miss each other. Visibility is about 7 miles to see sails on the horizon. We called them on the VHF with no reply. They should be close enough to hear us, but who knows. Courage indicates that the other boats have larger sail areas for the size of their boats, so we gain our advantage in stronger winds when they are reefing their sails. Either way, as long as we are performing at our best speed and make it in my 19-day estimate, I'll be happy. The race keeps us on our toes and trimming our sails and adjusting our course, etc. The new winds came up, the waves are a bit steeper, but we are still averaging 6-7 knots I think for the day. Slow and steady!
I had the hatch open over the freezer where we had a little melon hanging that was stinking. It's a small hatch about 40 feet back on the boat. A wave pounded into the upwind side of the boat and broke upward on it causing a huge splash (and noise that woke both Courage and Valiant). The splash washed over half of the boat, drenching the windows to the mast and all the way from front to back. It sent a bunch of water into the hatch, on the freezer and in front of the washing machine. Typically we have waves breaking over one of the bows and sending up a wave, but this one was big! All the clothes on the lifelines drying were drenched too. The waves aren't huge, it was just a random event where it broke just as it was hitting our hull and fired it upward!
This morning we had our usual Sunday morning pancakes, and then Courage and the kids went onto the back swim-steps for a bath. It was an active one with water washing up onto the second step up sometimes, then we get lifted and the water falls like a waterfall of the bottom step. I trimmed fingernails and tried to fix Vitality's hair a little. I trimmed a few areas to try to make it more even, so she has a short cut with patches missing. Here's hoping it grows fast these next 2 weeks! I trimmed the back since it was getting a bit uneven and so that she would have a short cut rather than a mullet.
John Maruhn - I suggested to Cassidy that she trim her hair in solidarity. She's thinking about it. I think she was going to make her cupcakes and give her a hug in lieu of the matching haircut!
We boiled eggs today and dyed them red, blue, green and purple. We tried yellow, but the eggs are brown and it really didn't take up at all. We broke most of our eggs in the dying process. Valiant made sure of that! Then I set up an egg hunt. It's very hard to find places for 18 hard-boiled eggs to hide on a boat rocking in about 15-20 knots of wind. They really had to be nestled or they'd break, roll, fall through netting, etc. But we figured it out and the kids had a blast searching for them. As usual, there was that one egg that no one could find. I only hid the eggs outside with that in mind. Last thing we need is a rotting egg somewhere in here!! We finally found it on the kayak and all was well.
One boat from Sweden told me that during their crossing of the Atlantic, some vacuum-sealed cheese somehow ruptured and rotted in the bilges so no one wanted to go inside during the whole crossing due to the smell! Sounds rough! So we didn't exactly have a traditional Easter, but it was a fun kid day anyway.
No rain today. Only one flying fish landed on the trampoline this morning, no squid. We are trolling 2 lines, but no fish at this point. On the net we heard of a few boats that donated many lures to the sea the last few days. Maybe there are some big fish out there?? We had to resort to canned BBQ turkey, brown rice and carrots for dinner. Kids loved it as a welcome change from fish. The carrots may hold out another week, probably will run out before then. Then it's potatoes, onions, and canned veggies. It's hard to keep anything fresh around for 3 weeks.
We've been reading about the Marquesas for our arrival, so we can make good plans. Sounds like they have some nice fresh stuff there, but many of the populations are around 700-1000. I believe I read that there were 250 boats signed up to make this Pacific Puddle Jump. I realize some won't go. Also we know some that some haven't left, but are still thinking about it. Our books indicate that when "all the boats arrive" there is a run on the ATMs and fresh fruits/veggies, so don't count on either. Together, if we all arrived at the save time, we could double their population. And I'm sure if all their population needed something at the same time there would be a run on it.
Fortunately, we are a bit later than the first big departure group, we don't need fresh stuff, we'll be fine on canned stuff if need be. We bought some French Polynesian francs from a boat that had returned to Panama from out here, so we are OK for our first purchases until we find something to resupply our funds. We read a blog that some boat came across only empty ATMs for the first 3 weeks of their stay in the Marquesas due to all the boats and the increased demand.
While this all makes sense to me, Courage just read to me that the Marquesas, while being known as friendly, are/were cannibals. Sure, you'd be friendly if you were trying to lure in dinner! I was trying to confirm - were or are?? He read that the last known event was a couple of years ago. They ate a German tourist. This was definitely frowned upon this day in age, but apparently it occurred. He went up a hill with the guy, then came back down to his girlfriend and said the guy was really hurt up on the hill and she needed to come. She didn’t like the way he was acting and went for help. When investigated they found bones and a campfire. Guess we won't be taking any locals, only tours, eh?? I don't believe this occurs with any frequency, less than most country's murder rate I'm sure, but I guess it's good to read up before you go!
Shannon
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