Day 10 & 11

Day 10 & 11

My husband is a super stud! He ran a 10 gauge wire to juice up the autopilot. It had actually begun shutting itself off several times during the night even after the batteries were fully charged – and I will tell you that it is a horrific feeling. Jim did a lot of reading, some tweaking with the settings and tinkering with the Ram. I can't tell you how relieved we all are that his methods made all the difference in the world! The unit is actually running beautifully now. None of us would ever consider doing this passage without an autopilot on purpose – never.

I, on the other hand, had one of those days. The eggs wriggled free of their bonds and a dozen or so of them plunged over the lee cloth to their deaths from the top bunk, smashing themselves and ruining our lovely cabbages. That was a very icky mess. The back of Nav Station swivel chair broke so I glued and hammered it back together fearing that if I didn't do so right away that one of us might become impaled on the sharp pieces of wood spindles sticking out. As I was working away on the chair, the seat of my pants became wet... a BIG wave had hit the side of the boat and water saturated our bed, linens, pillows and settee cushions... because an itty bitty port hole was open to let in some fresh breeze. After that I took a fresh water shower so that the rest of me didn't stink like my day. I went to my drawer to get some fresh, clean clothes – and everything in it was wet. Yet another leak.

I have asked Carolyne to write a little something to share – from a teenager's perspective. She sleeps a lot these days. (If nothing follows this sentence in this paragraph it is because I haven't received anything – probably because she is still in bed!)

We are half way there!! We should be crossing the equator in a couple days. We are thrilled with the Tartan – she sails fabulously despite our attempts to make her do things that defy physics. We are continually learning how to sail her better and under what conditions. Jim and I are actually sailing her 'together' – and I am anticipating what he wants me to do without him having to ask. That is like... well, HUGE for us. In addition, I no longer am the cockpit sailor. On my night watches, if a squall is coming and I have to furl in the jib – then I do so. We have actually caught up with and passed several boats that left La Cruz a couple of days before we did. Not that this is a race... but... ;)

And I am now going to go enjoy a little fresh breeze – in the cockpit. Because all the port holes are closed... and will remain closed.