Position: We are a couple of days south of the equator now and about 2/5ths of the way to French Polynesia. Our position is:
02 58.39S 104 10.82W
*Note: I am told you can copy and paste these coordinates into google earth and it will show you where we are.
Mileage: 2221 – 2107nm= 115nm
Number of miles to go: 2107nm to go of approx. 3850nm. We are about a 2/5 th of the way to French Polynesia.
Fish count: The count remains the same. 4 Mahi Mahi, 2 Cero and 6 tuna. One Marlin that we were happy got away! We need to eat a bit out of food out of the freezer to make some more room.
IN SEARCH OF FAIR WINDS AND FOLLOWING SEAS
All the information we are getting seem to indicate that we will find the trade winds and a helpful positive current at around 5 degrees South. So we have come off our track to French Polynesia and used the South East winds to get our butts down there. Every degree on charts is equivalent to 60 nautical miles. So this means we need to try and get about 180 nm further south, so that will take us a couple of days.
But we can not complain. The sun has come out and the sea state has settled. We are able to put a bit more sail out, and increase our speed, with out beating the boat into the waves. It also means I have the deck back to play on.
The humans are taking advantage of the more settle sea state and making yogurt (see You Tube), water and sorting through the remaining fresh food stock. Mostly cabbage, onions, potatoes and christophene left. One pineapple, a couple of limes, a few peppers, a zucchini and a couple of tomatoes. They say they have some bags of veg in the freezer as a back up. Getting onto that reserve will make more room for fish! I do get terribly excited when the rods go off with that distinctive ‘whirling’ sound as the fish takes out line. I know I am going to get more than dog food for dinner. Dog food may be a balanced diet, but who wants to eat the same thing every day?
SPEAKING OF FOOD
Speaking of food our lovely friends on the sailing catamaran ‘SEA ROSE’ were nice enough to give us all their take on stocking up before a long trip. Sue and Brian gave such a great report I will attach it in it’s entirety below. They are on the last leg of their circumnavigation of the globe and have lots of experience we can learn from.
s/v SEA ROSE – ABOUT STOCKING UP
My theory has always been “if you don’t eat it at home you won’t eat it at sea”. We eat mainly one pot meals at sea unless we have very calm conditions when we have been known to fire up the bbq! So lots of pasta, pesto and whatever else you like to make pasta sauce, rice
and veg for stir fries and curries, beans for chilli, nachos etc, salami and bacon for flavour, eggs for omlettes, bacon and egg pie etc, or any
leftovers get reheated, toss in a few eggs and wrap it in a tortilla with hot sauce and sour cream or yoghurt – yum. And hopefully lots of fresh
fish. Try to buy vacuum packed meats as they keep for ages in the fridge. Lots of onions, garlic, potatoes, cabbage, carrots, celery all keep well
after the lettuce and peppers have gone soft., Try to buy unrefrigerated produce and green tomatoes, melons, pineapples, avocadoes, and bananas -they will ripen eventually and hopefully not all at the same time. We like to sprout mung beans – nice to have the crunch when everything else is getting droopy.
We generally have a sandwich for lunch so I bake bread and I always take lots of tortillas for wraps. They have lots of other uses too. Scrambled eggs and beans in a tortilla with hot sauce make a good meal too.
My favorite breakfast at sea is fruitcake. I am usually up at 4am and I love a hot chocolate and a large piece of fruitcake as the sun comes up. So
I stock up on dried fruit, choc chips flour etc so I can bake bread and other goodies at sea.
At about 5pm we always have happy hour – no alcohol at sea but we have a soft drink and a snack – peanuts, cheese and crackers, chips, whatever. It is a time we always sit down together for a chat.
Chocolate – if you like to eat it buy lots. Middle of the watch treats are special and help keep you alert.
I used to do a lot of cooking before we left – lasagne, chilli etc. It was great if I was feeling quesy. Nowadays seasickness is not a problem for me so I generally don’t bother.
Can’t think of much else right now. All common sense really. The first time we went offshore I stocked up for 6 months – went a little crazy really. Then we got to Fiji and guess what – they have grocery stores there!!
Hope this helps a little.
WHY ARE CROSSING THE PACIFIC?
After our last blog entry you are probably wondering why we even think of sailing a boat across the Pacific. Would you do it? And if you would do it, why? I promise I will get my humans to write down their thoughts on this. Now that you have read a little about our experience, send in your thoughts and we will include them.
OFF TO FIND THOSE TRADE WINDS!
END
