Pacific Odyssey - Leg 2

Jordan and Skipper are working together on a ´Sometimes . . . ´ birthday card for Sara who turns 27 tomorrow; there´s lots of joking and laughing in the process, a good sound.  Jordan has had his workday lengthened, trying to remove the stovepipe close to a deck leak, and Skipper´s been closely following the weather.  They skipped together in the morning, which inspired others to come up with ways to exercise. Jose, Tavish, and Darcy found a lashdown line at the after end of the foresail boom from which they can do chin-ups.  There is some stretching happening, and a lot of talking about stretching and possibly yoga.  Once again, we´ll see. Karen is on watch with her 2 helmsmen/women, as well as quite a group of other trainees enjoying the coolness of the evening.  We can tell we are
getting closer to the equator as it gets dark earlier and earlier.
Soon it will be dark by 1830, and that will last for several months; we think of you back home with your nice long evenings.  Claire and Genna S. shared their life stories.  There was a lot of laughing from the hold table when Genna answered the question "what attracts you in a man?" Claire, it turns out, is an expert on anything related to
Sesame Street. Chatting with Adam, he admitted he thought he wouldn´t get sick or sunburned, yet he succumbed to both. He laughed and said, "I think I´ll just keep my mouth shut, see what happens and
keep talking to people, getting to know them."  He would like to work
behind the scenes in film or theatre productions. Sara listened in to
a very interesting conversation between Jamie and Josh on night watch
about the war in Afghanistan. She was impressed with their knowledge
and the ability it allowed them to form viable opinions.  There is a lot of reading happening, some trainees are on their second book.  It
has inspired my boys and now we find Jacob and Noah with their noses
in a book too. Water continues to spray over the port rail and if you run your hand along anything forward of the mainmast, you can feel and see the salt.  Showers are happening more frequently as the water temperature is wonderful and bodies are hot and sweaty.  The wind is blowing quite hard because of headwinds and the motion has increased; we are now steeply heeled over to the starboard side.  Walking on the deck is calculated and salad tends to blow off the plate if you´re the watch eating on deck. Jeremy lead a discussion today on Stewardship and the Environment. Sara and Antony continued with Senior and Junior lessons.  Trainees are starting to get some of the oral tests signed off in their log books.  At about 1530 we lowered the trysail and raised a single reefed main. We were able to turn off the engine and continue to make good speed and the heading we
need to reach Hiva Oa. Aaaaaah . . . there is a big difference when
the boat sails just under her sails. She glides, she´s free to move as she needs. The motion is pleasant, even though we are heeled over quite a bit. Lee cloths are definitely in use for the port-side sleepers. Today I have a journal entry from Arielle. She wrote about
her first night watch, leaving Honolulu: "...a cool wet hand
touches my right foot. I hear my name whispered. It´s Elske...she´s
waking me up for night watch. Before I fell asleep I had gathered a few things next to my bunk that I would need, a hoodie, pj pants for the slightly cooler breeze at night, my gloves...my hands were feeling a touch raw from hauling on salty sail ropes...and my life vest...I slip on my warmer layer over my t-shirt and boxer pajamas... carry my life vest above the bodies of other sleeping trainees...I squeeze by and crawl to the companionway ladder...slide into my life vest...climb up the ladder...clip onto the lifeline [lifelines run from the stern to the bow, port and starboard, and all crew and
trainees must clip into these once it is dark]. My nightwatch partner,
Genna, has already made it back to the wheel. I stumble drunkenly back and forth along the deck, in the waves, to the stern...The night on a boat is somewhat indescribable...stars are as bright as a full moon night might be in the city. Tonight there is no moon. The sails are visible in the starlight and I hear them crack and flap in the wind. The only sounds are the wind, the waves, the sails and the squeaking of the rigging as the sails rise and fall with the waves."  Arielle continues with more observations and I will type them in tomorrow as I am already well over my quota of words. The feeling on the ship is good; people seem very happy to be here. I hear lots of laughing and see many people interacting with each other. Until tomorrow, good night, Bonice.