***Life on board***
7:56am- Last night we feasted on Rice with chick peas, fish curry delight (one of Trevor's specialities), and fish stir-fry with peppers, onions and some peanuts! The fish is keeping very will in our ice cooler. And yes, we still have ice! Will is finishing up his watch now and I will be on momentarily, Trevor and Adam are both out like lights. Adam on the floor and Trevor in Adam's bunk. Sometimes we sleep in each others bunks when the boat is rocking because the two aft bunks are by far the most comfortable when the boat is moving around a lot so we swap in and out. Adam is on the floor because the two aft bunks were taken and the floor is the next best place especially with a big v-berth cushion thrown down.
Will reported seeing a pod of about 30 dolphins this morning just after sunrise, "but now they are gone. I got some video though!" he said excitedly. My watch went by pretty fast with not much to report. We have noticed a cooler breeze today and more birds than we have seen in the last two days. Some of them are larger white birds and occasionally they fly very close to the sails but only for a moment getting some kind of lift from the boat and resting.
7:12pm- We just finished up dinner. Fish with onion and pepper stir-fry this time with cheddar cheese melted on top then put in a pita bread with onions and mustard YEAH! We also had crackers and cheese. We are lucky to have a block of cheddar cheese and to be able to keep it cold. If we had known the ice would work so well me might have brought more cheese.
Not much to report today in terms of boat life. The days seem to be going by very fast (as least to me) and I spent a majority of the day awake reading since I got a good long chunk of sleep last night.
I am currently reading a book called 'Evolution's Captain' by Peter Nichols about the voyages made by Captain Robert FitzRoy aboard the survey ship HMS Beagle in the 1830's including the famed 5 year voyage with Charles Darwin who gained fame through this voyage with his meticulous preservation of animals, plants, birds, bugs, coral, and even fossils from around the world. He is most well known for his eventual realizations on the evolution of some of the species that he collected, especially those in the Galapagos Islands. It is a great historical read and gives some incredible insight into what it was like to be a discoverer of new lands in the not so distant past. Voyagers who took to the sea then are most akin to the astronauts of today, boldly going into the unknown in the name of science and the human race. Sailors and discoverers (as they are synonymous) of the world were literally sailing right off their charts. The Beagle, a specially outfitted survey ship carried precise instruments for making measurements of position by celestial observation. These were later used to improve, or in some cases map out for the first time, coastlines, safe harbors, and dangerous rocks for ships to better navigate by. Darwin's position of "naturalist" onboard the survey ship was more or less a fortunate coincidence.
Nowadays with GPS, Radar, and accurate charts of anywhere you want to go, a circumnavigation seems almost easy by comparison. It makes me really in awe of what Captain FitzRoy accomplished with few charts, no GPS, no Radar, not even waterproof Raincoats! And what's more, Darwin and FitzRoy were 22 and 26 years old at the time of the famed voyage. Inspiring!
***The Boat***
As expected with the wind on the nose, the battery bank is charging well thanks to the wind generator. We are currently a healthy 86% of full. Windvane, sails, rigging, stove, electronics (everything) are all working smoothly but as always...we knock on wood. You can knock on it for us too. You can never be too careful.
***Communication***
After checking into the Panama Connection net this morning, we re-connected with the sailing catamaran "Gemini" also bound for Wreck Bay on San Cristobal, Galapagos. They were to the south and east of us (about 80 miles) as of 8:30am and we checked in again with them at 6:50pm just to say hi, check out each others weather conditions and position. They seem to be gaining on us slightly and also possibly experiencing more wind (being further south) than we are. Time will tell. Needless to say, the race is on.
***Weather***
Early this morning, the wind shifted more to the west and pushed us from a heading of about 250 degrees onto a heading of around 280 degrees (North away from Galapagos) after which we tacked onto a heading of about 140 degrees so as to make some progress south. As the wind shifted again back into the south we started making more easting than southing so we tacked again back on a course just high of our layline to the Galapagos which lies at around 230 degrees. We continue on this course now. Our forecast indicates that another shift like the one experienced today might occur again tomorrow and then, with luck, another shift bringing wind from the SE will allow us to head right for our goal. (knock on wood). We have been immensely lucky so far to not have not had to turn on the engine ONCE! (knock on wood again)
***Special Upcoming Events***
We are all (well at least I am) very much looking forward to our crossing of the equator! We are planning a very special ceremony. It will be my first time EVER in the Southern Hemisphere (south of the equator). I can sit in the cockpit saying to myself, "I've never been further south than THIS"..."Now, I've never been further south than THIS!!" It's fun at first but then it gets old.
Also coming up will be our crossing of the 90 degree of longitude which signifies our passing into another TIME ZONE! We will be in GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) minus 6 hours. GMT -6 and the ships clock will be adjusted as such. Also by a great coincidence, The Galapagos is situated due south of St. Louis, Missouri, USA (and therefore shares it's time zone) the home town of none other than Eye crew member Trevor!
Current Position:
1 deg 53' North
84 deg 55' West
Sailing Along
Alan and Crew