Thursday, March 18, 2010

Mexico to Galapagos - Day 16

[Mar 17]

Total Distance: 1336 nm
24 hr Distance: 83 nm (DMG 72nm)
Distance to go: 541 nm
Lat/Long: 5°39.55'n / 95°50.70'W
Engine hours: 1

A slow day today - we motored on and off for about 5 hours today (only one hour was prior to noon - when we took our noon position above). We did have some nice sailing today, interspersed with drifting. We are still seeing lots of grey areas on the horizon, and we frequently run through these squalls, which cause a bit of a fire drill around here as we run around closing hatches and ports, and try to protect the cushions from getting too wet.

A wild night as we sailed through a squall with lightning all around us, and gale force winds battering the boat. We ended up cranking up the motor to race ahead of the storm. Luckily these squalls don't move fast here, and we were out of it soon enough. Eerie.

Finished our tuna today, so we'll start fishing again tomorrow.

3 comments:

Mike and Liz said...

W'hey John and Naomi,
I've been following you since my childhood
friend Bob Yearsley and his wife Jaqueline
told me of your plans to make the voyage.
I've been envious rotten; so much so that my wife and two sons decided to sail for three weeks this last December on the North Island of
New Zealand. I haven't had so much fun since I was a kid! I've been a sailor for 35 years
and I figure I have about 2 years net on the
calm waters of Puget Sound and as far North as
the North end of Vancouver Island. I have to confess a little lamely that I always promised myself a long distance bluewater sail, but fear
at the age of 54, it could elude me. Anyways,
Galapagos was always "the" destination -
lucky you. We look forward to a complete rundown
on the giant tortoises...hope you see some at the Darwin Research facility. Keep your eyes
peeled for the Hood Island "saddle-back" subspecies; now that's evolution!
Mike & Liz, Yakima WA. USA

Ron said...

Hello you two! Hope you have wind today. I think of you often and I must admit I miss you both quite alot these days. When someone is away from you whom you really care about and normally have regular telephone calls or visits with, you start to yearn for them. Well at least I do. I am so very proud of both of you for following your dreams. It's inspiring to me and has reminded me to constantly follow my passions. Thank you for that. Enjoy eachother and I will talk to you soon. When you get to land or if ever you can call, it'd be nice to hear from you.
Galapagos Island here you come...now you know what Darwin went through (oh he had no motor)!

Hugs and love,

Ron

Naomi said...

Hi Mike and Liz,

Glad that you've been enjoying the blog, and your trip to NZ sounds fabulous!! We have seen some amazing tortoises, but please don't give up on cruising...most folks out here are retired, and are loving their new lifestyle!!

Ron...we miss you too!! sure is crazy to be separated from your closest friends and family out here, but thankfully we can still connect with phone, email and sharing pics!! looking forward to seeing you soon!! xoxo

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Hi - thanks for leaving a comment on the blog! Cheers - John and Naomi