For about 15 minutes earlier today I actually thought we would be able to turn off the motor and sail. Nope, my hopes were dashed when the wind picked up to 15, shifted right on the nose, and then promptly died to less than 5. So we’re still motoring. I know the wind was blowing here at some point today. The wavelets are still here flowing from west to east. We missed it. Damn.
This is the longest I’ve ever run the motor on Dosia. We’re coming up on 48 hours straight. We have calm seas, lots of battery power, and plenty of hot water but honestly, I wish the wind would blow and we could get some sailing in. And, of course, when I say blow, I mean blow at 15 knots from the northwest. NOT 15-20 on the nose like it appears we’ll see our last day or two into New Zealand. Why is it that the last few hours or days of a long passage is always a beat???
I wish I could tell you something exciting that happened today. Let’s see, I spent my night watches staring at my now 60,000+ collection of songs wondering if I’ll ever get around to organizing it. We had B.L.T.’s for lunch and then spent about thirty minutes transferring all the jerry cans of fuel into the main tank. We sent and received a bunch of emails. Then we watched two movies, drank a bottle of wine (to celebrate our crossing of 30 South), and ate some friend chicken. The rest of the time we were sleeping or reading or staring off at the horizon. That’s passages for you. I have found some relief on my night watches. I sit and listen to Radio Australia on the SSB radio. It’s basically the BBC of the South Pacific and it’s the most interesting thing I’ve found. Scanning the channels for hours on end in the Pacific I’ve found some oddball stuff. Many religious fanatics, Rush Limbaugh (ugh), a Chinese language lesson, and what sounded like two Truckers in Arizona having a semi-erotic conversation about fruit. If I spoke Japanese or Chinese or what sounds like Arabic, the options would be much greater but as it is, I need some English. Luckily our brothers in Oz are happy to oblige and broadcast 24 hours a day on about 12 different channels.
Less than 350 miles to go. Come on wind!
