Position: We have just crossed the equator into the South Pacific. Our position is:
00 00.00N 98 53.15W
*Note: I am told you can copy and paste these coordinates into google earth and it will show you where we are.
Mileage:2593 – 2459 nm= 134nm
Number of miles to go: 2459nm to go of approx. 3850nm. We are about a third of the way to French Polynesia now.
Fish count: The count remains at 3 Mahi Mahi, 2 Cero and 6 tuna. One Marlin that we were happy got away! Finally calm enough, everything is relative, to get the rods out and fish again.
LET THE SUN SHINE IN
The winds and sea state settled through the night and we woke up to a sunny morning for a change. We seem to have finally sailed out of that heavy cloud cover and blustery winds. We are rarely getting waves over the coach roof now so I am a lot happier. I now have the whole boat as my play ground. I have tormented the humans all day to keep throwing the tennis ball. How long do you think it will take them for throw that toy over board?
WE CROSSED THE EQUATOR
We looked for the magic line, but it just was not written in the sea. The humans did a count down as the Northern latitude reached zero and promptly switched to South. We are now officially in the South Pacific! Our personal designation changes from ‘Polywogs’ to ‘Shellbacks’. We rushed to the bow to christen the ship and propose a toast Neptune and Poseidon. The humans rushed through the ceremony so we could get our first drink in weeks.
SMOOTH SAILING?
We still have not hit the trade winds. The winds are still coming forward of the beam (in front), but at least they are not on the nose anymore. The wind driven waves are from the same direction, but we now have a much larger swell coming up from the south, on the beam (side of boat). I will assume the swell is a precursor to the winds shifting into that direction and hopefully a bit more from the East? We can only hope.
END
