Warm and Humid

So we are plugging away - moving south and west - toward a magical point where we will cross the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). This zone is girdles the earth near the equator, and is what most folks know as the doldrums. We've already had some days without much wind, it's frustrating knowing you have a long ways to go, and he wind is only blowing 6 knots - occasionally, and from the same direction for or than 10 minutes at a time. When we cross the ITCz we wil do so traveling straight southward t minimize our transit time.

All of us are feeling the increasing warmth. Night watches are no longer affairs where all the foul weather gear goes on. Instead we wear shorts and a T-shirt. Squalls and small thunderstorms are cropping up every day too; another sigh we are nearing the ITCZ.

All of us are well, dealing with sweat and grime as well as possible. It would be nice to have our main sail up fully at night, but being a mom & pop crew - and constantly needing to balance fatigue with the speedy progress that comes with frequent sail changes, we sometimes have to opt for rest and a little slower progress.

School is in session a few hours a day, with reading, math, and writing taking up a day each, rather than a portion of one school day. Carrie is lamenting the fact that she didn't get a hair cut before leaving Mexico. All of us enjoyed a true spectacle today. 1000's of flying fish would burst out of the water like silver darts - being chased by skipjack tuna, and often when escaping the tuna below in the water, they would fall prey to pin-wheeling sea birds. So with dozens of flying fish airborne at any given moment, and perhaps a hundred birds swooping and banking to intercept them, the tuna come bursting out of the water like rockets - following their small prey. More than once I saw birds and tuna collide. It lste for two hours and was great fun.

Anyway - doing well. More in a few days.

Lat 10 41 north
Long 123 18 west

Carrie, Owen, Tamsyn & Griffyn
S/V Madrona

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Moving along - the air is gettting warm!

By morning we will be over 900 miles offshore. We are all doing well; none of the greeness of the first week, and we are pretty firmly set in our watch schedules. While I wouldn't say this passage is "fun, fun, fun" it's not too bad.

The winds are still blowing hard most of the time - so much so that it has been days since we shook the last reef out of the main. The Monitor wind vane (Monty) is great, though it doesn't "like" dead downwind too much. We've got a good mostly downwind sail combination that is proving easy to balance, and thus easy for the Monitor to drive. The combo is one reef in the main sail, the storm staysail, and varying degrees of our jib - which is on a roller furler. This sail selection is heavy on the front of the boat, and so works good in the whole downwind thing.

We had a dead flying fish on deck yesterday, and two boobies hitched a ride on the bow all night. Last night a little bird, some sort of petrel (like a smaller version of a Wilson's Storm Petrel)landed in the cockpit and this little guy has been camped out all day. He must be pretty tired.

Been running through rain squalls the last 24 hours, and look forward to increasing instability the closer we get to the equator. Two days ago we were at North 16 degrees, and now we are at North 13 degrees.

Hope everything is well with friends and family. We are fine. Had a nice spaghetti dinner with Romaine Lettuce for salad. Making apple crisp in the pressure cooker for desert. Tomorrow making French bread.

Owen, Carrie, Griffyn and Tamsyn
S/V Madrona

N 13 49.366
W 120 55.568

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A Relaxing Day, Sparky, and the Barleys

A Relaxing Day, Sparky, and the Barleys

May 17th, 2011

We are around 550 miles off Cape Falso. We didn't change or reef sails and there were no minor crises! A relaxing day. 

Owen put out more of the genoa today, shifted the main and altered the preventer. Then he spent most of the day watching the sails to see how this combination worked. 

Tamsyn and Griffyn spent most of the day below with LEGOs. We have 4 two liter containers full of LEGO parts. There are many specialized parts for making vehichles, people and the typical blocks for building structures. So the kids can build and populate whole cities. At some point in the morning, I suggested that their buildings were experiencing earthquakes (when the boat crashed into waves and shook violently - as it did often that morning), we laughed about it. Their day was calm and uneventful until Griffyn bit Tamsyn when she threatened to break his LEGOs because he wouldn't give her her piece back (or something like that). Then there were lots of tears and time outs (and Griffyn was gounded from LEGOs for 2 days). He spent the late afternoon in the cockpit (as a time out) where he immediately spotted a vessel. Owen jumped on the VHF radio and hailed the unidentified vessel to let them know we would be crossing their stern (in case they were trailing fishing nets). They turned out to be a commercial fishing rig. In broken English, they offered to sell us shark meat and swordfish. Owen chatted a bit but declined their offer. (It is hard to find the perfect "time out" spot aboard a 37 foot by 12 foot home, we try.)

I slept through Griffyn calling me in the middle of the night, it was my first deep sleep in a while. I washed my hair (in salt water with Dawn dish soap and a fresh water rinse.) Dawn dish soap sudses up in salt water, shampoo doesn't. I took a sitz bath with about 2 cups of fresh water (using a total of 4 cups of fresh water). I MISS a shower, but was pleased that I could feel refreshed using so little fresh water. And of-course if I did have the luxury of using a lot of water it would all just splash out of what ever little container I was using to bathe in. As it is, we attempt to sit in a small square bin (which could hold about 2 gallons).  It is quite cramped for my big butt and the cockpit well is not much larger than the bin, but you need the cockpit well walls to brace the bin so that you do not go flying naked and slippery around the cockpit. Banging your head as the boat lurches during a bath is anything but relaxing. I think about land and hot soothing water pouring out of a shower head in a shower stall that doesn't move, but that kind of dreaming will get you know where on a small cruising yacht. Owen also washed his hair and took a bath. Tamsyn's hair hasn't quite turned into dreadlocks - but luckily for us they are in style. Tomorrow we'll wash Tamsyn up. 

I changed my pillow case today. I cleaned a bit, cooked and did the dishes (in salt water & Dawn with fresh water rinses.) These simple tasks seem so uneventful, so mundane, but we haven't had the time or energy to do even the simplest things in our new life on this continuously moving vessel.  Our menu for the day: 

Breakfast - bacon & eggs, limeade (freshly squeezed), coffee

Snack - crackers

Lunch - Pb & J, carrot sticks, sliced apples

Snack - cookies

Dinner - baked beans (canned) with hot dogs, rice, steamed broccoli, UHT milk

Desert - fresh pineapple & home made yogurt

We have a number of pets aboard. "Sparky" (our automatic bilge pump alarm), this dog barks every time we heal or hit a big wave. (That can be as often as every 20 minutes!) Sparky's "bark" is somewhere between a phasor (think Star Trek), a siren, and a small annoying dog that barks every time a stranger approaches your door. He reminds me of a time when Tamsyn, Griffyn and I were walking the streets of La Paz looking for the dwelling of the woman who made our full length swim wear. In La Paz there are tons of "guard" dogs hidden behind garage doors, fences and gates, in addition to the ones out in the open threatening to rip your leg off if you trod on 'their' sidewalk. They ALL bark vigorously when anyone walks by. So one hot sunny day while we were traversing those dusty, dirty, shadeless streets, Griffyn started barking back at all the dogs. At the time, I was hot, thirsty, and frustrated with him, he single handedly doubled the noise level that day - but eventually we found ourselves laughing out loud. Now when we hear Sparky go off - we just say, "Oh Sparky  shut up." And that makes us chuckle about the loud irritating interruptions. Of course Sparky wouldn't go off so much if our auxiliary bilge pump hadn't broken just after we left the coast of Mexico.

And there are the "Barleys" - small hidden creatures that move with the motion of the boat - we can hear them but not see them. There are many "Barleys" on board. One I hear distinctly each night as I crawl into my bed. He is right above my head. He says, "Dada ra TAT tat tat tat tat" and repeats ad nauseum. I have no idea where this creature is hiding or I would not miss a heart beat to squash 'im.

Slow progress - not the best weather

Hi all,

We're doing fine. The weather has been too windy for great sailing - blowing over 20 kts frequently, and forcing us to reef sails frequently. When we do reef way down (1 or 2 reefs on the main, and little bit of jib or storm staysail)then we slow way down. The winds have kicked up bigger than typical seas which are sloppy and uncomfortable.

So for instance yesterday was great sailing with over 125 miles covered. Today has, by contrast, stunk. We've had big swells at such an angle that as we've sailed a good course we are often in the trough, getting bounced all over, and we've not been able to shake out the last reef in the main. We'll be lucky to hit 70 miles today - a sad distance.

Carrie says, "Life at an angle is interesting. Then add pitch and roll and it becomes challenging. Everything aches - we are adjusting."

We're going to run down a different tack tomorrow to get more southing.

A little more than 2000 miles to go. Winds need to get more regular or this is going to be a slow trip. Then again fully laden Tayana's are not a very fast boat.

Will try to send out some individual messages next time. Love to all.

N 19 07.865
W 115 41.999

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A Long Day

May 14th, 2011

A Long Day

I made pancakes for breakfast today around 8:00 AM, after breakfast Owen went to bed. The winds are very light this morning. Monte, our wind vane, drives most of the time yet we still have our hands full. When Owen got up (11:30 AM), we changed our sails from 'sailing through a gale' to 'sailing in trade winds.' We dropped the storm sail (on our inner stay), shook out the reefs in the main (we had had two reefs in) and unfurled the head sail fully (a large 130% genoa).  Now we had lots of sail out. We were plugging away at 5-6 knots - this would be our 1st big distance day. It felt good to be moving with some speed through the water and with the pitch and roll leveled out, it was a much more comfortable ride. It also changed the heel dramatically - this would be a new angle to live by. 

Monte (the monitor wind vane) and Betty (a character I perform) are not getting along today. Betty wants to hang laundry all over the steering wheel, "It's so close to the galley - easy to reach." Monte is having a fit - doesn't want to work at all. We have had to separate them - Betty in the bow and Monte in the stern (the cockpit). I wonder why they call it a cockpit?  We think Monte must have suffered some trauma with his previous captain - all he wants to do is steer the boat. He won't even talk. And the higher the wind, the better he steers. He does well under stress if not in social situations. Maybe he's autistic, he certainly has tunnel vision. But I'm glad he is part of our crew. He works very hard and so far hasn't needed even a single break. And he doesn't eat! (nor relieve himself). He just drives. Betty is busy trying to cook at an angle. 

"What is for lunch Betty?" I ask.  

"Sandwiches from hell" she responds.  

"What's in them Betty?"

"All kinds of shit!"

"That sounds awful."

"You don't have to eat."

"But I'm hungry. I'm hungry. I'm hungry!"

"Don't repeat yourself dear."

After a late lunch, I was tired - a nap for me would need to be added to the schedule. I woke up around 5 PM craving a chicken casserole, so I started looking through the Joy of Cooking. The winds were picking up - Owen called me up to the cockpit. You live by the wind on a sail boat and it dictates your every move. So instead of making dinner I was struggling to get the head sail in quick enough (so it wouldn't burst a seam).  Owen wanted to get the storm sail up before we lost the light - so he went forward. He discovered an ugly knot in the sail bag. When our captain is "frustrated" he uses 'captain's words'. They were flowing freely as he tried to work the knot out while perched precariously in a bouncy bow. Around then Griffyn vomited all over the starboard settee. He completely missed the bucket. Owen already upset by mounting winds tying lines into knots, rushes down to help clean up the slimy stench of vomit off a large section of our dining room. In a small boat a large section of it is where you live - the dining room / living room / class room  - and it smelled. We both worked frantically to get it off the carpet, the upholstry and the pillows. The light was fading. Owen went back up on deck to find a halliard had wrapped itself around the spreader. I cleaned below while he swore above. Then I went up forward to help him. It was slippery. We raised the storm sail and then reefed the main. It was now 7 PM, I went down and served a couple quick chicken cassadias via the microwave. Griffyn fell asleep.

In the galley, I had discovered a spot under the stove that had collected water (a couple of days back when we shipped all that water in the galley.) I removed the dripping boxes (of aluminum foil, waxed paper, ziplock bags, plastic wrap) and wet pans from underneath the stove so that I could sop up the puddle. It was becoming harder and harder to find anything dry enough to soak up water. The only thing we had managed to dry out since the storms off Cape Falso was a brown fleece sleeping bag. Everything cotton stayed damp or worse - wet! Cotton wouldn't even dry out hung on the life lines in the heat of the day - it was still to humid above that huge expanse of salted water. If we left the hatch open at night (for air circulation - all the ports were closed) by morning the galley floor was wet. Tonight we would close the hatch. It had rained so much during the first couple of days at sea that we found all of the leaky spots on the boat. And the worst leak came through the hatch above the v-berth. It leaked profusely. We were all too sea sick to do much other than sop it up. Now after it had stopped raining we were left with piles of wet towels, rags, sheets, pillows, a comforter and even the v-berth mattress, not to mention the foul weather gear and our layers of cold weather clothes. 

It was nearing my bed time and tonight I needed a different space to sleep. Griffyn was asleep in the quarter berth. I told Tamsyn she would sleep in there with him and I laid down on the port settee. The port settee is narrow and has a lee cloth - I felt confined. Tomorrow night I'll reclaim the quarter berth (sans Griffyn). The kids can share the port settee. I need to rid the Q berth of cracker crumbs. Griffyn is definitely in a growth spurt - he's eating more then Tamsyn. When I take him to the head at night, he's "starving" so I gave him crackers - hence the crumbs in bed.

Thus far I like sailing. I love the water even though it scares me at times. I love the view - 360 degrees of glittering rolling waves. I love the peace and quiet (well there is the sound of waves and wind constantly - but it is very peaceful when the only human interruptions come from inside the boat.) And I love going somewhere.

Carrie

A Fouled Prop

May 13, 2011

A Fouled Prop

I have fallen in love with my foul weather bibs and Gill jacket. They keep me toasty and dry. Tonight is damp and chilly so I made myself some hot tea for my night watch. I journal only during my night watch - never seem to find the time during daylight. I can see the big dipper and the milky way. Once the moon sets - the stars light up as if they were turned on. Owen is snoring - very tired from his impromptu swim yesterday. He had to rescue a fouled prop. We forgot to check the lines before we started the engine. The end of a running backstay line had washed overboard through a scupper during the last stormy night. With a rope attached to his middle, while Tamsyn and I watched for shark fins, Owen anxiously descended the swim ladder (off the starboard beam) into the deep blue chilly Pacific Ocean. We had reduced sail and were moving at about 2 knots (we thought that that would be slow enough) but Owen, a strong swimmer, could hardly keep abreast of the boat - he came back aboard exhausted and cold - the prop still fouled. The water rushing past the boat was too swift - so we reduced sail again until we weren't moving at all, then after he was warm enough again he went back into the water. This time he was able to cut the back stay line and free up the prop. When he crawled, shivering, back on deck, we were all greatly relieved to have our captain aboard again. Now all he had to do was re-rig the running backstay again. It was times like these when I felt the most dependent on Owen. I still knew virtually nothing about sailing. When he was in the water, I would imagine what I'd need to do if I suddenly became the captain. I have a tendency to worry and the words of a trusted friend who knew me well came to mind, "97% of your fears will never come to pass." 

Carrie

Doing Well - 3 days out

Just a quick message to let everyone know we are doing at sunset on our third day out from Mexico.
We are about 200 miles SW of Cabo Falso (near Cabo San Lucas) We ended up leaving late Monday afternoon, due to preparations and high winds off Cabo Falso. Had pretty high winds anyway when we got out there (25-30 kts sustained) the first two days once we got into the funnel that are the waters off Cabo Falso. Seas were 10-12 feet at about 8 seconds. Washing machine. We plugged away under our storm staysail. Everyone was green, but this morning we broke through into the trade winds. So today has been a regrouping day, a day to dry out, and rest. Watches going well. Kids are well - bedtime now. Tomorrow we'll see abut getting some more speed. Love you all.
Had a light spell today for two hours with little wind. Got stuck in the trough. Oh well. Nice sunset. Hope you are well.
Owen, Carrie, Tamsyn & griffyn
S/V Madrona
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