April, 2012:

Some days are just grumpy days. Today is one of those. There is no particular reason. The sailing is spectacular today; we are flying the genoa, main and mizzen in about 12 knots of wind right on the beam, making a steady 5.5 knots. We just all seemed to wake up tired, hot, sweaty and grumpy. The girls have been bickering since they first opened their eyes. I don’t feel like cooking and served granola bars for breakfast.

We are just so ready to be there. We are craving juicy, fresh fruit, ice-cream, cold beer (other than our Special Equator Beers we are a dry boat underway). I want an ice-cold crisp green salad as big as my head. We all want to walk on land again.

So, I did what any sea-going mother would do: I got out the nutella and ritz crackers, opened a can of Trader Joes pineapple hiding in the stores and we had ourselves a feast of a snack.

Total miles at noon: 1983
Miles since yesterday: 97
Miles to Hiva Oa: 680
“A Series of Unfortunate Events” books read aloud so far: 4
Cans of warm Pacifico taunting us in the shower storage: 72

Last night was the kind of night I’m going to think about long into the future, when we’re back in a regular workaday life. I’m going to close my eyes and try to remember each detail, and long for every one.

I was up for my watch at 0400. Matt, finishing up his 12-4 watch and ready to hit his bunk, noted that everything had been stable outside for hours and we’d been picking up speed a bit even at times. I put on a kettle of water for my cup of black tea, made some notes in the log. When the water was ready I grabbed my hot mug and the ipod and headed up to the cockpit to settle in for some sailing and stargazing.

When I popped my head out I was awestruck. The nearly-full moon was still up in the west, about 45 degrees above the horizon and focusing a brilliant beacon of light on the water. It was so bright that it while it tried to dim the gazillion stars it was unsuccessful and the sky was still lit up with tiny sparkles. Our spinnaker was pulling us south, toward the southern cross, at 4.5 knots with the light warm breeze blowing from the east. The huge full sail was highlighted by the bright moon behind it and instead of its daytime rainbow it sported shades of glowing silver.

I settled into the cockpit cushions with my favorite ladies: Erin, Imogen, Jolie, Sia, Deb, Ani and together we glided through the magical night. With the seas only a long, wide swell, the motion was almost imperceptible except for forward.

People have told us how lucky we are, to get to sail far away. My first response is to say luck has little to do with it, that we’ve worked so freaking hard, made many difficult decisions and given up so much for so many years to get to this place on the earth. But on nights like this, I see how very lucky we truly are to be here together.

Total miles at noon: 1886
Miles since yesterday: 78
Miles to Hiva Oa: 780
Number of poblano peppers left after finding them in a gooey mess in their bag in the fridge: 0
Cabbages remaining: 3
Cool, clean girls after a saltwater washdown on the back deck today: 2

There are five brand-new shellbacks aboard Wondertime today! At 3pm local time we crossed over the equator and are now in the South Pacific Ocean.

The girls and I worked on making turtle hats for everyone to wear today for the crossing. I can’t wait to show you the pictures. The adults celebrated with our Special Equator Beers (tasty brews from the UK we’d found in a specialty beer shop in La Paz and have been saving for this day). We also inhaled half a Costco-sized bag of Kettle chips. The girls enjoyed pineapple popsicles from our tiny frosty freezer, some special candy treats and another viewing of Finding Nemo afterwards.

It was just exhilarating, watching those numbers count down to 0, then switch from north latitude to south latitude. All five of us sat in the cockpit with our eyes on the GPS numbers counting down. It was like the most exciting New Year’s Eve ever, except the sun was directly overhead, blinding white and the sea a color of turquoise I’ve never seen before all around us.

We are on the last leg now, although still waiting for wind that will carry us faster than 2 knots. But we’re moving, so we’ll wait. The last three nights we motored through seas so glassy the stars were reflecting on the water. We didn’t have any more wind today so kept on motoring until we were a few miles north of the line, then put up the main, mizzen & genoa. Amazingly the wind came up a bit at the same time and we drifted across the equator at a blazing 2.5 knots. No matter, it gave us plenty of time to savor the moment and our new status as shellbacks.

Total miles at noon: 1808
Miles since yesterday: 98
Current latitude: 0 3′ S
Finding Nemo viewings aboard, including today’s: 174 give or take

99 miles
from the equator, becalmed
spinnaker hangs limp

Total miles at noon: 1710
Miles since yesterday: 85
Miles sailed since we turned off the motor eight hours ago: 15
Miles to Hiva Oa: 958

According to the skies and our weather charts, we’re officially south of the ITCZ. But apparently the weather is playing an April Fools’ joke on us: over the next few days it is supposed to be moving south, to around 6 degrees S. What that means is if it doesn’t move again by the time we get down there then we’ll have to go through that dreadful zone TWICE. Good grief.

Still, that’s a long way from where we are, especially at our current pace (and the ITCZ is a very shifty thing and could likely move north again by the time we get that far south). We motored for a few hours yesterday afternoon, then were able to sail again until around the time for our radio check-ins. As night fell the wind did also and we found ourselves bobbing around in a windless sea. We just sat there for a while, enjoying the peace and the stillness. The sea around us was lit up by the glowing half moon at the top of the sky and the western horizon still had the slight orangey glow of sunset. It was lovely, and tempting to just put on the anchor light and call it a night. We haven’t seen another ship since our first nights off of Mexico.

We didn’t though as our desire to bring this trip to a close sometime in the next two weeks is just too overwhelming, if you can imagine. The engine was fired up and we motored through the glassy, still night.

At sunrise, happily, a light NE wind came up, only about five knots, but with our spinnaker and mizzen up we’ve been able to keep sailing at about 2.5 knots all day. The next few days are scheduled to bring more light winds, then pick up on Wednesday to a rip-roaring 10 knots. In the meantime though, it’s not so bad strolling through the doldrums. We’ve got our fans humming, buckets of clean and pure turquoise salt water to throw over ourselves, our cockpit shade cooling our outdoor room and the most amazing view on the planet.

Total miles at noon: 1625
Miles since yesterday: 90
Temperature inside the boat: 90F
Dorado fish caught and devoured!: 1