We are doing well here. Started day 1 with some super winds and probably a 30# tuna. Since then the wind has dwindled some. We've been getting some rain, which we haven't really seen for awhile, so that's been nice. Cockpit and clothing are a bit wet though and it's humid when the hatches are closed. But it rains for maybe an hour, and then we can open all up again, so it's refreshing. I collected about 30 gallons in our drum and used it to wash kids and a load of laundry today. That was nice.
Our power hasn't been holding up so well. Yesterday was cloudy and minimal wind and we weren't moving very fast, so limited power from solar, the wind turbines don't add much until we hit 12 knots of wind, the hydro generator only contributes at about 6 knots of boat speed, which we were rarely hitting. And it was rainy, so we didn't go outside much, I have a bit of a cold, as do most of the kids, so it was a lazy day resting and recovering with the TV on watching Myth Busters for a few hours, so that didn't help our power issues. And, we are keeping the fridge cold to keep all of our fresh fish edible for a couple more days. Finally this morning we turned on the generator and water maker for an hour to boost our power. Good thing for so much redundancy!! Of course, nothing critical would have happened anyway, but it's nice to have some power once in awhile. Today we are doing better, some sun this afternoon, wind of 12-13 knots, and moving 5-7 knots, so all of our power makers are contributing again.
We are also still getting our "sea legs". Somehow I think it means getting your balance at sea, but most cruisers refer to the seasickness more so than the balance issues. Today we all seem to be improving on our colds as well as our nausea. Some rain this morning, but nice fresh air and outdoor play this afternoon. During naptime Vitality apparently took it upon herself to give herself a haircut. So, apparently she joined the Shellback Club where you shave as you cross the equator. Most of the port side of her head is missing hair. I don't see much of a recovery possible, I think she's going to get a buzz cut. Maybe the longer the trip the better so she can grow it back in before we get to public!
Now about to sit down to some pan seared tuna steaks, last of our broccoli, and brown rice for dinner. After this we'll move onto our carrots, they have been holding out well in the fridge. Finally probably potatoes, then if needed we can move to our canned veggies. Hopefully by then we've arrived and found some local supplies. Cassidy has been making a nice bread for lunch each day, we down it as fast as we can as soon as it comes out of the oven. It doesn't last an hour. Our stalk of bananas finally worked out. We've had trouble ripening them in the past, but this one turned nice green/yellow, didn't brown and bruise or go from unripe to rotten overnight somehow. We have a second bundle hanging from the dinghy davit on the other side. We are almost finished with the first stalk just as stalk #2 is ripening. Yeah, this one is working! We are eating watermelon every day as we bought 12 before we left. The pineapples are still a bit green, so haven't tapped into them yet. Those will be nice for next week or so. Really sweet ones from this farm we found. Made some nice brownies for dessert also. So when we feel like eating, we are eating well! Kids haven’t had any issues, their colds made them a little less hungry, but they seem to have come past that already. Cassidy is also a great asset, as she doesn't get seasick.
We have been heading on the hypotenuse of the triangle, basically straight to the islands (as the wind allows). But now, we are heading south to try to get to the trade winds. It's 180 miles south, so we didn't want to go totally out of our way to do it, but we weren't really moving well the other way. Hopefully we can get down and hit some nice winds, double our current winds, and get moving. We left the same day as 3 other kid boats who are all on catamarans also, so definitely going to be a race and comparing notes when we arrive. We saw them on our AIS tracker for the first day, which was really fun, but now they are gone and have been since day 1. Bummer. I was enjoying getting to track them and follow where we all were, so now we don't know where anyone else is, but maybe one day it will come up again. It should if they have their AIS transmitters on. We have a receiver, but not a transmitter.
Courage covered the boom becoming disconnected from the mast it sounds like. That wasn't so good. Good thing we got that put back together. Not sure how Loyal is the big guns, then I come along and things get Mickey Moused! But such is life. We couldn't get the regular pin in, but we got a 4 inch bolt in there which should hold it - - almost the same girth.
Not sure I'd love doing this in a mono-hull, definitely a catamaran for me! Our rocking is nothing compared to a mono-hull, we can cook and eat and play, etc. When we're on deck working on something, we can stand up straight and just do it. Much nicer I think.
Off for dinner,
Shannon
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