Day 1 was good wind, day 2 and 3 not so much, so we headed south for better wind. Think we made it. Today we've been doing great, moving usually about an average of 8 knots (200 mile day). Of course this wasn't direct toward our target, still somewhat southbound to stay in the trades, but moving well in any direction. We crossed the 5th latitude and 6th today. Our weather prediction anticipates the trades moving down to the 7th latitude by tomorrow, so we are trying to move both south and west. We hit up to 12 knots surfing down a wave, but have hit 10 easily a few times. This afternoon we turned more west bound so that we are on track toward the Marquesas. Currently it is about 2400 miles to go. When we left the Galapagos, it was 2900 miles at the start. I believe it's about 3300 miles from Panama.
For the past few days it's seemed that we were alone out here, nothing and no one in sight. This morning there was a mono-hull behind us. He's a 40-foot mono-hull named Maulaua or something who is single-handing, just a guy named Harry. He called us this morning on the VHF radio and came in super clear. Will be fun to meet him in the Marquesas if the paths cross. We also checked into the ham net at 8 am and could actually hear the other boats. The other times we've checked in, we really didn't hear too well. We got the GPS coordinates of 2 of the other kid catamarans as well as some others out there. One kid boat was directly east of us about 30 miles. The other was more south and more east. The third doesn't have a ham radio, so we don't have a location on them. It was fun seeing a boat and hearing from the other boats.
This morning was beautiful, this afternoon rain much of the day. I've been collecting it. The cockpit was really nice this morning for breakfast, we dropped some tarps and it was nice and calm despite strong winds outside. For dinner, it was a nice breeze, but problem is it still leaks, so it was wet and rainy inside at dinnertime. We have caulking, I'm hoping that one day when it's sunny we can get up there and try to seal it up. We've had rain most days though. We've had some waves coming over the bow. More so they are hitting sideways and splashing up. They pound the bottom of the boat sometimes also and we have a high bridge deck. I can't imagine what it's like in those smaller catamarans that are closer to the water. They must be having some serious pounding I imagine. I think we are adjusting better here to the movement.
Cassidy is making banana bread now for dessert. We had tuna tonight and again tomorrow, then we'll need to fish, but not sure how it's going to go. We can't reel them in at these good speeds, so we may not be able to fish for a while as long as we stay in the trade winds.
Batteries held out well today despite no solar all afternoon. Moving over 6 knots we are collecting wind and hydropower nicely. This morning the hydro-generator, which we tow on the starboard side was somehow nicely wound up with a fishing line we had on the port side. This was the kid's line, not super serious fishing. I gave each of the boys a "genuine Rapallo" lure upon departure, so they really wanted to get them in the water. So, the lines were centered behind the boat entangled up to the dinghy. Courage pulled them in and I sat and untangled them while the oats cooked for breakfast. They came apart pretty nicely, just took some time. We got the hydro-generator straight back in the water as we were moving nicely and that meant we were missing out on some nice power. We've still been running the fridge a couple of times a day for the fish and some veggies in it. Nice to have that option, but takes some work to keep it powered.
Our boom Mickey Mouse is holding up so far. Bilge pumps keep running, as the waves hit us, the back flow valves let some water in, then it pumps it back out. So, I guess they are good to have, but they seem like they are creating their own work. Caught a fishing line on the starboard side, maybe rudder, or maybe prop. Moving too well to go check it out, we pulled it in, cut one side, but couldn't get it free, so hope to not use the starboard motor if possible until we are able to go down and dive on it and clear the line. On the nice side, we've given so many lures; it was nice to bring a few serious hooks and lead lines back onboard.
Not super eventful otherwise, just hanging out here. Kids are learning a little French, we're trying. They learned a few words; today we covered "Je veux" (I want) so that they can make a sentence. I want 4 boats; I want 2 apples, etc. They can count to 10 comfortably, so we use numbers a lot in talking to build their confidence. Hopefully they can have a few basic skills in French so that they can talk it basically, understand it, and therefore learn by immersion from their basic skills. Not sure, we'll see how it works. They didn't learn as much Spanish as I'd like them to have.
That's about it from here, hoping to stay in the wind, hoping to stay in the lead of the race, and overall enjoying our trip. Was fun to have some interactions with other boats. Still taking bets on how long our journey is. We've gone 500 miles in 4 days roughly. We have 2400 miles to go. Make a betting square and offer tuna steaks as a prize??
Going to eat banana bread, then off to bed for many of us!
Shannon
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