I have lost track of time and days, our phones will tell us the date, the sun the time.
The sun did came out again, and she was very welcome aboard. We are in the rolly, unpredicatable ITCZ (inter-tropical convergence zone) now, 4 degrees North of the equator at this time, and as was expected, the big blue puddle did not give us an easy time the last 20 hours. During our evening/night routine in the cockpit, Tessa was looking for the North Star, as she wanted to do a wish. Not much luck for her, as it was all overcast, dark clouds. We told her that in a few days the North Star would no longer be visible to us, after we cross the equator into the Southern Hemisphere. This is where the world schooling comes in, and it's fun to give her an experience that's beyond paper. She will be looking for new stars, the ones we can't see in the Northern Hemisphere.
So was not fun about the last 20 hrs? Rain, thunder, really confused seas, and discovering leaks that we didn't know of since owning Bliss for 12 years. And one of them, above my bunk, like not a little drip but more like a faucet...ah well, the sun did came out again, it's not cold and things are starting to dry.
I never imagined I would say this, but I'm starting to like ramen noodles. Tod introduces me to these high-end foods. He wanted to take me to Taco Bell on one of our first dates as I had never been to one. Well ramen noodles are now a family favorite, Tessa loves it and says it's better than ice cream! It's a to-go meal, and we dress it up a bit, when real cooking is just not an option.
Good news: Tod rigged up the tiller pilot to our Monitor Windvane, and we are now motoring hands free, in slightly less confused seas. We did hand steer just for a little while, each of us getting soaking wet, coming down below as wet puppies to dry and warm up a bit.
I'm hoping that in a couple more days we will cross the equator. A party is in the planning. Do I need to give the ocean my wedding ring to ensure our last leg will be more comfortable? I'm not sure that just some champagne will do the trick. Suggestions?
Jolanda signing off for the Bliss crew
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Sent via SailMail, http://www.sailmail.com
Sunday, April 7, 2019
Friday, April 5, 2019
Pacific Crossing Day 15
Strawberry is doing all the hard work, she and Blueberry are doing all the steering on Bliss, and are our extra pair of crew hands on deck. Tessa came up with these names referring to the color of the blades of the Monitor Windvane. Blue is for higher winds, red is taller and is for lighter winds. We for sure our glad to have a mechanical hand steering device, mounted on our stern. The Monitor, once set up with balanced sails, does not require electricity, just wind to work. We haven't seen many boats with them anymore, just like we haven' seen many boats with SSB radio, most modern cruising boats have electrical autopilots. They are mounted down below, required battery power, and work well, until...they don't. The number one failure on large crossings like these, are auto pilots. Many cruisers carry an extra set, or replacement parts. We do have an auto pilot, but it's mounted above decks, not as strong, and not up to the strong and high waves we have gotten so far. We thought we had the spare parts for it ,so we can use it when motoring in flat seas (will this really happen???), but we don't, so we will have to wait until we in Tahiti to see if we can make it work again. So, what do we do when those flat seas at some point show up in the doldrums? Well, Tod, I admit...when you ordered a part back in Shaker, and I questioned why we need to spend that money, I was wrong, and we will be happy to have the tiller pilot hooked up to the Monitor.
For the sailors among you, we have been flying a reduced main sail and poled out jib at a broad reach for days now. Happy we added the whisker/spinnaker pole at the last moment.
When I spend time in nature, far away from anything, my mind starts to drift, and I get inspired to keep our family on an adventurous track. Right now, I'm very much looking forward to visit French Polynesia, and visit places you can almost only visit by boat. Sure, it's quite the track to get there, and as you get from reading our blog, far from an easy one, but I hope to say in a few months, this crossing has been all worthwhile. Sailing friends of ours have already arrived, and are super excited to be there.
A shout out to my physician sister: thanks Boer for your guidance with the respiratory infection I developed more than a week ago. She has a list of all our rx onboard, and with the ease of the garmin inreach satellite device, we can communicate almost instantly via text. We do carry an actual satellite phone as well, but have that for real emergencies.
Lunch time here. Tod isn't quite up to start making bread (thanks Nicole for the sourdough starter!), but we bought about 100 tortillas, so that with cheese, salami, carrots will do the trick for now.
Jolanda, signing off for the Bliss crew
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At 2019-Apr-05 9:58 PM UTC the position of Bliss was 07°08.41'N 125°39.95'W, with course of 225T (*T) and speed 5.3 knots. Wind speed 11.4 knots from 056T (*T)
For the sailors among you, we have been flying a reduced main sail and poled out jib at a broad reach for days now. Happy we added the whisker/spinnaker pole at the last moment.
When I spend time in nature, far away from anything, my mind starts to drift, and I get inspired to keep our family on an adventurous track. Right now, I'm very much looking forward to visit French Polynesia, and visit places you can almost only visit by boat. Sure, it's quite the track to get there, and as you get from reading our blog, far from an easy one, but I hope to say in a few months, this crossing has been all worthwhile. Sailing friends of ours have already arrived, and are super excited to be there.
A shout out to my physician sister: thanks Boer for your guidance with the respiratory infection I developed more than a week ago. She has a list of all our rx onboard, and with the ease of the garmin inreach satellite device, we can communicate almost instantly via text. We do carry an actual satellite phone as well, but have that for real emergencies.
Lunch time here. Tod isn't quite up to start making bread (thanks Nicole for the sourdough starter!), but we bought about 100 tortillas, so that with cheese, salami, carrots will do the trick for now.
Jolanda, signing off for the Bliss crew
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At 2019-Apr-05 9:58 PM UTC the position of Bliss was 07°08.41'N 125°39.95'W, with course of 225T (*T) and speed 5.3 knots. Wind speed 11.4 knots from 056T (*T)
Thursday, April 4, 2019
Pacific Crossing Day 14
Half way there, no April fool's day joke today, it's true. Is the glass half empty or half full?
If you ask Tessa, she would say half full, as she is really having a good time by herself in the v berth, making rainbow weaves bracelets, drawing while listening to audio books for hours at the time during the day, then catches up with us later in the day. If someone is willing to write the authors of the Flashback Four series and/or The Doldrums series, and tell them we need them to write more of these, I will be forever in your debt. And how about the adults? Likely half empty, as we are thinking "are we there yet"?
Last night we had our first major squall, intense rain for 45 minutes, lighting in the distance. All electronics ended up in the oven for protection. We are trying to avoid these,but there is just so much you can do. For weather prediction, we use Predict Wind, from which we get weather reports through our SSB. A major help though in passage making has been Jamie, from s/v Totem. His family of 5 completed a circumnavigation last year, and we got to meet them in La Cruz. They have a wonderful blog if you are interested to read, just search s/v Totem. Each afternoon Jamie send us long/lat coordinates to shoot for, and even gave us a nice pep talk email when I needed one.
We have run out of fresh greens, sad to say. I had bought 5 pounds of broccoli,5 pounds of spinach and 5 pounds of beans. Not all of that got eaten, as we didn't have the appetite so we had to toss some out. Last containers of yoghurt too. But, no worries, we still have plenty of dried staples, 8 pounds of carrots, cheese, smoked marlin, apples, dried fruits, milk, all sorts of can varieties, nuts etc. We will not starve on this trip!
That's it for now. Another post I would like someone to please explain to me the xth law of Newton?! It must have something to do with higher level of center of gravity, and the amount of bruises you get over your body while ocean sailing...tessa has none, i have too many to count.
Jolanda, signing off for the Bliss crew
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At 2019-Apr-04 8:24 PM UTC the position of Bliss was 08°58.66'N 124°25.36'W, with course of 273T (*T) and speed 4.6 knots. Wind speed 14.4 knots from 046T (*T)
If you ask Tessa, she would say half full, as she is really having a good time by herself in the v berth, making rainbow weaves bracelets, drawing while listening to audio books for hours at the time during the day, then catches up with us later in the day. If someone is willing to write the authors of the Flashback Four series and/or The Doldrums series, and tell them we need them to write more of these, I will be forever in your debt. And how about the adults? Likely half empty, as we are thinking "are we there yet"?
Last night we had our first major squall, intense rain for 45 minutes, lighting in the distance. All electronics ended up in the oven for protection. We are trying to avoid these,but there is just so much you can do. For weather prediction, we use Predict Wind, from which we get weather reports through our SSB. A major help though in passage making has been Jamie, from s/v Totem. His family of 5 completed a circumnavigation last year, and we got to meet them in La Cruz. They have a wonderful blog if you are interested to read, just search s/v Totem. Each afternoon Jamie send us long/lat coordinates to shoot for, and even gave us a nice pep talk email when I needed one.
We have run out of fresh greens, sad to say. I had bought 5 pounds of broccoli,5 pounds of spinach and 5 pounds of beans. Not all of that got eaten, as we didn't have the appetite so we had to toss some out. Last containers of yoghurt too. But, no worries, we still have plenty of dried staples, 8 pounds of carrots, cheese, smoked marlin, apples, dried fruits, milk, all sorts of can varieties, nuts etc. We will not starve on this trip!
That's it for now. Another post I would like someone to please explain to me the xth law of Newton?! It must have something to do with higher level of center of gravity, and the amount of bruises you get over your body while ocean sailing...tessa has none, i have too many to count.
Jolanda, signing off for the Bliss crew
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At 2019-Apr-04 8:24 PM UTC the position of Bliss was 08°58.66'N 124°25.36'W, with course of 273T (*T) and speed 4.6 knots. Wind speed 14.4 knots from 046T (*T)
Monday, April 1, 2019
Pacific Crossing Day 10
It's a glorious day in the neighborhood, and yes, we made the first 1000 miles mark. It's the slower part of our journey, the next 1000 miles should take less time. It's not hot and humid in and outside, it feels like a pleasant spring break. We are all well rested, and in the mood of cooking great meals. As it seems brought an apple tree with me, I figured I made as well make a Dutch apple pie with Tessa. We laid down the flour on the flat table, there was no rocking at all, and I did what i love to do, cooking. And then, just to top if off, Tod yelled from above decks, " come above, let me show you what I caught". A beautiful yellow blue tuna, and no, we did not wrap the fishing line around the prop. Sushi and apple pie, what could be better?
Wait, what's the date today again? :-)
All is well aboard
Stats Day 10: 1105 miles in last 10 days, 1800 to go to Nuku Hiva
Jolanda for Bliss crew signing off for now, at 10 degrees 23' N, 118 degrees 05' W
Blog posts at sea are sent through our SSB radio. We love hearing from you and can read your comments, just know we have no ability to reply back on our blog's website. If you leave your name, we can reply to you directly by email.
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At 2019-Apr-01 5:28 PM UTC the position of Bliss was 10°22.85'N 118°04.52'W, with course of 211T (*T) and speed 4.3 knots. Wind speed 10.8 knots from 053T (*T)
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Sent via SailMail, http://www.sailmail.com
Wait, what's the date today again? :-)
All is well aboard
Stats Day 10: 1105 miles in last 10 days, 1800 to go to Nuku Hiva
Jolanda for Bliss crew signing off for now, at 10 degrees 23' N, 118 degrees 05' W
Blog posts at sea are sent through our SSB radio. We love hearing from you and can read your comments, just know we have no ability to reply back on our blog's website. If you leave your name, we can reply to you directly by email.
-----
At 2019-Apr-01 5:28 PM UTC the position of Bliss was 10°22.85'N 118°04.52'W, with course of 211T (*T) and speed 4.3 knots. Wind speed 10.8 knots from 053T (*T)
----------
Sent via SailMail, http://www.sailmail.com
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