Into day NINE on board Mayaluga

I (Tony)find it amazing that the days just seem to blend into one another on a long passage. Unless I go back and read the log-book entries it is all a hectic blur of watch-changes, meals, alterations to sail configurations, weather down-loads on the SSB radio, showers under very trying conditions etc etc. So far there has been very little opportunity to read. Down-time, for me at least, means falling onto a bunk exhausted and getting a little sleep. Sleep deprivation is a real problem because of irregular routine.

As I sit here and type this Blog, the laptop is propped on my knees, Mayaluga is rolling quite wildly because we are sailing somewhat downwind and the mainsail is boomed out too far to stabilize this uncomfortable situation. It is impossible to keep the laptop and my hands on a table-top. The good news? We are getting used to it. What is normal??

All radio communication is based on UTC-time (GMT or ZULU) but we still keep local-time on board for watchkeeping schedules. It´s comforting to know when the sun rises that it is approximately 7:00am, and not 1500hrs UTC. Today we went through a time zone and adjusted all our watches ahead 1 hour. Mark drew the lucky straw and gets a 5 hour afternoon watch today instead of a 6 hour. Yaahoooo! We have two more time changes before we make landfall in the Marquesas, so we each get a 1 hour reprieve. As we are currently headed due west we skip another hour within days.

Our fishing rod got smashed up again yesterday. We will have to find smaller lures to attract smaller fish, or we will just have to fish smarter. Today the sun is shining again after two day of total overcast. It is still warm enough to sit overnight outdoors in the cockpit in shorts, barefoot with a light fleece for the wind.

Within the next few hours we will have covered more than 1,000NM on daily rumbline, and probably 25% more than that if our actual track with all the jogs was measured. We are now 40% complete with this passage to the Marquesas on the basis of rumbline measurement which is the shortest distance between daily noon positions. It seemed so daunting when we set out, the distance so long. It’s far more manageable just taking one day at a time and chunking off the sea-miles.
Tony on Mayaluga signing off for now. My bunk calls!

Note from Karin: Tony and I realized this evening that we should be setting the clocks BACK not forward! This resulted in us having to set the clock back 2 hours during my watch. A 6 hour watch instead of a 4 hour one for me! Mark owes me big time! 🙂