Day 10 HALF WAY THERE!

Day 10 4/8/06 3:21 am
Coordinates............ 06 38.109N, 125 36.100W
Heading................ approx. 230
Boat speed..............6 knots
24 hr total nm .........166 nautical miles (NM)
miles total since MX....approx. 1400 nm
Wind direct. & speed....N/NE 12 - 15 knots
Swell direct. & ht .....N 3 - 6 ft.
Cloud cover.............85%
Barometer...............997

We have officially reached the half way point between Mexico and the Marquesas. Each boat had their own way to celebrate, we made chocolate chip cookies. Aside from that there is no big change. Bruce and I were joking that somehow, in our minds when we pictured the "middle" of the ocean, it would somehow look a bit different than the "rest" of the ocean. I am not sure why we thought that, the grandeur and splendor, the hoopla and celebration that we were expecting, anticipating when we cross the equator in a couple of days is taking on more of a reality. I am beginning to realize that the big dotted line with a sign like the North Pole marker are not going to be there. It is not going to look any different, blue, wet and rolly like the rest of the ocean. We will just have to accent it with our style, flair and festivities.

An observation for the gals on cruising the Pacific. Late on our 3 am watch the powers that be, the female first mates on Lawur, Capaz and Ohana Kai came to the reality that we have cooked more meals in the last 10 days than maybe in the prior 3 months combined. Keeping in mind that when we are on shore, especially in those comfortable marina's, we tend to eat out A LOT. I am not sure if that prepared us or blinded us to the reality of cooking out here. I like to believe it gave us the repreve from our usual routine so we would feel refreshed and ready to go. Kudos to us, I believe we all provisioned amazingly well and have eaten like kings out here. Go Girls!

On the tough side, I would have to say the the effects of lack of quality sleep combined with this incessant rolling are catching up with us. Big swells continue to plague us all and seem to be the topic of discussion each day between the four of us vessels out here. It continues to come out of the due North making it all the more challenging for us to make much more western progress as we nearer the equator. The swells hit us on our stern starboard quarter which tends to make us roll side to side as well as front to back. More accurately, we feel like we are constantly fish tailing, never allowing us to really feel stable. Time a big swell with a big gust of wind and we are always on guard for the boat trying to round up into the wind. I have a little saying of mine from back packing days, "Mountains don't go up hill forever", meaning, "This too shall pass". We will soon be getting close to our time to turn and cross the equator and into what we hope to be a short passage through the dulldrums, hmmmm. Out of the frying pan and into the fire?

Truly, we can't complain. We have had an amazing first half run of this crossing and are doing just what we set out to do. Take each day and it's challenges as they come. We are working on setting up a bit new watch schedule and going to start dropping some of our radio nets so that we can get some more quality sleep, especially for Bruce. I promise I will make sure he is just waking up from a nap, rather than just going down for one before I let him have another crack at writing a journal entry, though it was an amusing tale wasn't it.

Nap? Nap? (Bruce here...again) I take offense with the term, Nap. A nap is something you take on a lazy Sunday afternoon possibly between football games or while watching an old movie. Children and old people take naps. A nap is not trying to eek out 5 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period (if Im lucky) while fish and all other matters of sea life try to board your boat because they prefer a less aquatic lifestyle. Im not complaining Im just saying you can tell who has gotten 10 hours of sleep in the last 24 hours and who has gotten,, lets just say less.... a whole lot less. Im sure my writing would be much more eloquant if I had gotten that much sleep. Okay maybe not. Who am I kidding no it wouldnt.....I need a nap...

until next time,
love lisa and the boys