… as every day!

At sunset we dressed MaRe in her “pajamas” to make her ready for the night.

Just when we finished this task, we saw again mostly likely some smaller whales or very big dolphins. From the swimming behavior they could have been dolphins; from their size – 5 m body length – they could have been smaller whales.

Next time we see them again, we ask them.

The day had 3 events.
First, the main halyard of Katinka broke.
Second, we crossed the equator.
Third, Ralf could get a temporary solution for his main halyard.

But there was also another event not sticking out like the mentioned three ones. We were sitting in the cockpit and talked. But it was not so much the conversations we had, it was also the observation of the blue ocean around us. The huge surface of water up to the horizon with its permanently changing surface. Every moment looks like the same, but it’s not. The waves are different.

Tjasa likes this impression and I like it a lot. Already during the Atlantic crossing this impression attracted me and made me feeling good when I saw it. Fortunately there is more to be seen during this long sail.

The wind now is pretty stable and I hope it stays like this. We make good progress in the right direction with a 2 – 3 KN current pushing us in the right direction.

Will this current push us through the up coming doldrums, which we might reach already tomorrow afternoon?

Katinka is sailing again!!!

Due to the movements of the mast top, Ralf could fix a block at the mast top and runs temporarily the main halyard outside of the mast. With this he can reach Gambier Island and in join effort he will get a mast internal running main halyard.

Congratulations Ralf for a successful repair!

We just discussed the situation on board. Dennis and Tjasa getting sadder every day and I can’t change that.

What happened?

Since we left Vista Mar Marina, Dennis tries from sunrise to sunset to catch a fish. He used already all lures on board. Lures, which were used when we caught a fish. But now “no fish today, my luck had gone away…”

Conclusion: there are no fishes in the waters between Galapagos and Panama.

Tjasa, she gets sadder every day because she wants to prepare pasta with freshly caught tuna or mahi-mahi, etc. But has to opene canned tuna to prepare a pasta sauce tonight. She almost cries thinking about the can she has to open.

What can I do?

Please give me your advice!

Good morning from MaRe!

We made good progress last night and just hoisted the gennaker to add as much speed as possible before the bl…. monkey with the tin tool steels the wind again.

(I’m sure I’ll curse this monkey more often in the next days.)

Our current position is
00 deg 12.7890 min N
086 deg 24.101 min W
In about 15 NM we will cross the equator, this will be in about 3 h.

As happy as we are about this, there is a shadow on this event. Last night, without strong winds, the main halyard of Katinka broke. Please all keep fingers crossed that Ralf can insert a new one. For that, he needs to go up the mast twice. The top of the mast can easily swing 1 m to each side. That’s as such not a problem but Ralf needs to work up there with ropes.

At 1129 (UTC -5) we crossed the equator at
00 00.0 n/s
086 38.426 w

I thanked Poseidon for protecting MaRe and all her crews while she sailed in many seas of the northern hemisphere and I asked to protect her and all her crews in all the seas of the southern hemisphere she will sail. This plea was closed with the Japanese words “yoroshiku onegaishimasu”. For sure he got twice our offerings in form of a excellent Dominican Republic rum.

I also thanked Tjasa and Dennis for joining me on this exceptional sail.

Our thoughts were also with SV Katinka and her crew Ralf & Gaby. We wish them all possible success that they can replace the broken halyard and continue their sail to Gambier ASAP.

… and a nice and relaxed day goes to the daylight end.

In last red and orange light of the sun above the horizon we put on MaRe’s “pyjama”. She is not sneaky and wants everyday a fresh one. She wears the genoa almost always in full size, and the main sail in small reef 2. And she looks good in it.

Looking at the western horizon there is a cloud, with a sharply drawn edge painted in a warm red. Why are sunsets regarded as so beautiful?

Tjasa and Dennis are figuring out how to measure a portion of spaghetti without a scale. The one on board is only waveless bays or marinas. This we will a have a spaghetti dinner. I’m looking forward to it

Today’s routine checks of the engine oil level in both Volvos and the Kubota diesel of the genset showed all is normal.

What will the night bring to us beside a sky full of stars, a moon river for a few hours, and small sparkling lights in the water and the bucket I use for my shower at the stern?

No way that we deal with “Luftballone” on board of MaRe.
But still we deal with the number “99”.

Today we had a noon etmal of 99 NM. After having been sailing for days in weak an no wind area with etmals always below 70 NM today’s calculation result was just great.

We did not open a bottle of champagne but we enjoyed the leap forward.

For non sailors. Anx etmal is the distance a boat travels in 24 h. Most often it is measured from noon to noon but it can be measured from time x until time x+24 h.

When will we break the 100 NM etmal? What will be the maximum etmal when we are on the Southern Pacific sailing in the SE trade winds?

At around 0730 Tjasa came out of her cabin well tempered. So I had nice surprise for her. “Let’s replace reef 2 in the main sail for reef 1 to gain speed”. As it is daylight we don’t need the safety measure of reef 2 any longer.

Short recall on how to steer MaRe into the wind and why. Then we went into action. First furling the genoa. Then while I prepared my work at the mast, Tjasa steered into the wind. As soon as MaRe’s hulls pointed into the wind, tension on the top lift, a short easing of the main, and the reef 2 line, reef 2′ s gooseneck shackle opened, reef 1 was in already closed, up with the sail head by few meters, tension on the halyard, tension on the reef line 2, easing of the top lift, and main sail was in reef 1. Back into the helmsstation.
With explanations Tjasa steered MaRe roughly into the right course. Genoa traveler a bit more forward, and unfurling of the genoa. The big junk of work was done. MaRe sailed already in the approximately right direction.

Then the tuning of sails and COG. This took a bit and then MaRe ploughed through the blue sea.

Today not a deep blue and when looking towards the sun’s direction the sea appeared as usual, in shades of grey color; the surface glistering. A few shadows of clouds. White horses here and there telling me that we have 4 Bft of wind. The swell is a mixture of at least 2 different directions; banging choppy waves sometimes on the tunnel.

The air is extremely pleasant. Warm, not hot and dry. Dennis took a stern shower a while ago, Tjasa just now, and i will do it later.

Route considerations were done until my head ached, meaning no clear facts for drawing conclusions for the next more the 2 days. Until that we continue with around 210 to 230 deg. This means we will pass Isla Española a bit further east then originally planned. That will be very fine.

How long will this run continue?

… we have tonight!

Since we were forced to change from gennaker to main sail & genoa yesterday, we are progressing pretty well due to more wind.

First the squall helped us to sail quickly deeper into the stronger winds area. Then we sailed mostly east of the BTW to stay in this area. This all paid out and since the squall yesterday me made 34 NM until now (0205).

The only open question is, where are the window corridors into the SE trade winds of the eastern Pacific?

The next days will be gripping.

Lucky as we are – sometimes, but not always – we got another series of squalls we could ride.

Hope that there are more to come during the night.