Day 4: Thursday 2/7/2013
POLLYWOG TO SHELLBACK
Yes we did it….crossed the Equator around 6:00 EST….a BIG YES!!!!!!!!
Today was another bitter/sweet day:
Bitter: Lost 3, count them 3 lures……..2 marlins and 1 sailfish….but, wow, are they impressive fish when they jump and tail walk. Two spooled and broke the lines and one we fought all the way to the boat…..about 30 min with a 2 speed reel…..Kathy got some great pics of the marlin near the boat….we think a striped marlin…..just beautiful……maybe 6’ long……..but alas I was unable to bring it close enough to the boat to grab the lure so after the Admiral said enough the line was cut!!!! And alas, no other fish……but still eating tuna from a few days ago!
Bitter: I screwed up the autopilot……and, I know better…..such a rookie mistake…….arghhhhhh!!!! I am working on 5-6 hours of sleep, day 4 and I’m an 8-9 hour guy but no, I must touch the buttons. The other night I was not happy w/the AP performance in those big sloppy following seas so I wrote the MMTAB (Mystic Moon Technical Advisory Board) some questions on what to do. Tom wrote back several setting to look at and so as I was recording these settings I rotated the round knob when I was supposed to push the arrow……yes, Simrad is one of those……push 2 buttons while standing on your left foot……so here we are 20 nm from the Equator and I’ve totally screwed it up…..all we can do is hand steer. Yes, I did have a good meltdown……my boys would be proud of this one :))))) But, what are you going to do…..I mean there is no one but yourself to get it fixed…..so after my meltdown I read the manual 20 times and went about recalibrating the AP….not in the best situations with a 1.5 kt current but after many tries I got it back to a workable instrument.
Bitter: Having to work so hard to get here. The delays in Panama and stuff on the boat and the final straw, the big time goof on the AP. It’s like the Big Guy really, really wants us to appreciate how blessed we are for having this great opportunity…… like, are these hurdles helping us to appreciate or signs to not cross….man, this destiny thing is a killer to figure out….ugh!!!
SWEET and MORE SWEET: Crossing the equator on your own boat……wow, for us, that is a big one…..from first time boat owners to this accomplishment….whoa…..that’s like 10 years of work and play to get here. And we celebrated in style paying tribute to Neptune the whole time. First, we jumped in and splashed around……and no, no sharks around just a laughing gull that has been with us (and pooped everywhere ) the last few days…..water was warm, 83 deg F……I guess Mr Humboldt current has not been here yet, deep dark blue water and very nutrient rich, visibility was 30’ max…..wow. Then we donned our pirate and wench outfits, popped open a bottle of very cold Veuve, toasted Neptune, ourselves, to God and then everyone else……gee, I guess we gave Neptune more than we thought as the bottle was empty a few hours later 🙂))). Then we took a 2 hour sunset cruise along the equator, after several attempts and thinking backwards I finally got the knack of piloting down under.( Kathy is already testing which water the water drains in the sink….you got to love her curious mind….now, she asks, which way does it drain up north?????….ah, the brain on Day 4 is a wee bit slow). We had a seared tuna dinner on the flybridge and watched the equator as the sunset…..whoa….that was one of our better passage experiences!!!!!
Friday 2/8 7:00 EST or 1200 UTC (94.5 hours):
Position: S 0 12 W 86 36
Traveled: 769 nm; 183 nm to go; ETA to San Cristobal Galapagos still Saturday morning 2/9
Speed: Current speed is 7.6 SOG (1200 rpm), avg SOG is 8.14 kts, boat speed is 6.0 kts @ 1200 rpm and favorable current is still 1.0– 1.5+ kts….
Boat Sightings: two last night; so two in last 75 hours, last night, looked like a fishing vessel
Winds: 6-8 kts N yes, I wrote N….predicted is SW – wrong again, very beamy;
Waves: SW swell 2-3’ long period – so wind chop on starboard beam and swell on port bow – a little rock and roll – stabilizers are back on!
Fishing: no catching :((((; lost 3 more lures, 2 marlin, 1 sailfish
Fuel burn: still 2.25 nmpg – that’s a 0.5 nmpg gain from the favorable current….luv it :))))
John and Kathy, Congratulation! So happy for you both. God is protecting and providing for you. All these “issues” are for your good. You may not see it now, but He is working it all out to benefit you either now or later, or maybe so you can help someone else later. So good to follow you, even out there in the wilderness.
Love you guys,
Roseanne
wow! almost there, so glad your timing was on target and you enjoyed your equator sunset – and science project 🙂 Looking forward to hearing you arrived safely in San Cristobal..
Hey Guys! Thanks so much for these updates! Living vicariously on the trip WE SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON! What were we thinking? Trip of a lifetime, and yes you are being tested, but only so the rest of the trip will go smoothly! Can’t wait for next posting! Love to you both! Keep up the comedy… Love it!