Pacific Passage Day 18

Hello Everyone,

Well we are now at 7.2S and 137.22W... We are cruising at about 6knots and wind speed is still in high teens and low 20's ... We thought this morning we were going to have a reprieve today for the strong winds but no such luck. As soon as we shook the double reef out of our main sail they came back with full force. We are once again sailing with a handkerchief out to try and slow the boat... we can't change course a whole lot right now.. we don't want to blow past the islands... with the Humbolt current we are in it is shifting our course by 15 ot 20 degrees west... so we have to aim high and ride it in... I guess this is the current that Kon Tiki thought the early Polynesians came to the islands on... or something like that. I need to read the book. It is on my list along with The South Pacific by Robert Louis Stevenson... As soon as I finish "The art of hearing heartbeats" I will start them.. I think it will be a family read aloud at night so we all can enjoy it. I am currently loving "The Art of Hearing Heartbeats" Thanks bookclub gals... this is the one book that I never read and I know you all loved it.

My big mission for the day was to shower... I know this sounds silly but getting into a tiny room down below and showering is not my fondest moments... I get so sick down there that I have been putting it off for Days... in fact... I think this is our third shower since we left La Cruz... I know that sounds gross but when you don't do ANYTHING it really doesn't seem like a priority... also it is really hard to shower while on a roller coaster/mechanical bull. I will be really excited to get out of this motion and to be able to take a drink of water without it blowing away before I can get it to my mouth... try going 20mph in your car... now stick your head out the window and then try to drink and eat something.. now do this for 2 weeks straight... while going up and down and side to side... I am not sure how else to have you picture what it is like but just know that I am so done with it... I know it could be worse... but.... at least we have blue skies above, no squalls, and happy kids... the giggle fest continues... I am not sure if they are just happy or if we are all losing it a little :@)

Last night was quite a strange night... we had two visitors on board. I guess we aren't the only ones that are tired of the winds. Last night there was a bird that had decided he was done fighting the winds and made a choice to join the circus. He landed on the back of the boat and then decided to walk on into the cockpit and start eating the Fruit Loops that the kids had dropped. Then he thought he would go into the boat and hang out... funniest thing... to see this thing just making it self at home and resting. We put him back out in the cockpit and he stayed with us for a few hours until he felt rested Guess... The first thing Amaia looked for when she woke up was the bird... no one really saw it fly away. I won't tell them we are having chicken tonight for dinner :@) (just kidding)

Tristan has been taking a watch at night now for the last week... he has from 9:30 to 11:30 shift... last night we was blessed with the same sensation I received the other night... Yes a Flying Fish about a foot long decided to join the circus as well and flew up and hit him in the side (up in the chair mind you) and then flopped down on the seat and was flopping around. Scarred the b-jesus out of him and then he through it back in. You can never really get used to the idea that these things can fly up so high as to hit you 8 feet out of the water... especially at night...

Well like I said yesterday... we are on track for landfall tomorrow between lunch and dinner time. We have about 150 miles to go... I can't wait to have a peaceful night sleep at anchor and just to be on the hook for a little while... We are all excited for the French baguettes and some Polynesian food. Unfortunately we seem to be having some electrical spikes in our system... so it has fried two of our computer batteries... One of which had the Rosetta Stone for French on it... so we are now back to finding our way with out it and hopefully fumbling our way through the French Polynesian Islands with body language and hand signals... okay not that bad but we will see how all this plays out.... Chris at least, thanks to Oma, understands a little bit of it... Oma we may need you to steal away on the boat and be our new communications / foreign language instructor for this part of the trip... its only 90 days. :@)

Hugs and love to all,

Heath

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