2021 Life Logs, Day 64: Birthday Discovery
Date: Friday, March 5, 2021
Weather: Mostly Sunny and Cold; High 35, Low, 21 degrees F
Location: At Home in The Cottage, East Falmouth, MA
Reached the Galapagos in my writing today. Woohoo!
Received so many wonderful birthday greetings from family and friends. Woohoo!
Covid vaccine tomorrow. Woohoo!
Justin, Jo, Ziggy, and Coco called to sing happy birthday to me. Woohoo!
Birthday dinner celebration tomorrow night with the Goldstones. Woohoo!
Life is good! Woohoo!
What a day! I awoke early to ding after ding on my phone of birthday wishes from friends and family near and far on Facebook. If you were one of those friends or family members, thank you so much for the birthday wishes.
Shortly after I got up and started my day, friends Karen and Peter Baranowski drove by to drop off a bag of goodies that included some of my favorite dark chocolate in the world—Taza Super Dark, made just outside Boston in Somerville. Another wonderful birthday surprise. Thank you, Karen and Peter.
Then things settled down a bit and I got into my writing. My goal was to reach the Galapagos today so I could write about one of my favorite places on earth on my birthday. Well, I made it to the Galapagos, but just barely because I got delayed by what I am calling my ‘birthday discovery’. I have written a log every day since Mark and I left Boston to sail around the world in October of 2005. But I have never gone back and read all of those logs until now. Each time I begin a new chapter, I copy the pertinent logs into my word document and read through them as I write. They are my research documents for the book. As I read the log for the second day of our passage to the Galapagos this morning, there was a Captain’s Ramblings attached at the end of the log. On his overnight watches, Mark had decided to write his impressions of our voyage. As I read his words, I felt like he was right here beside me. What a wonderful birthday gift. Then two nights later he wrote another attachment to my log. At the time I named them Captain’s Ramblings as that is how I saw them at the time. Mark was just pouring out all of his thoughts of the moment. I knew immediately that they have to be incorporated into the book, but I wasn’t sure how. I wrestled with this for a while and then finally decided that I will hold them to the side and decide how to incorporate them after the book is written. I know there are more, but I am not sure how many. They give a different voice to our voyage and I just have to find the right way to incorporate them. I am going to end this log by sharing the second of those Ramblings, my birthday discovery, with you. Mark described our experiences of the moment so beautifully. And it was so special to have his surprise visit today.
Captain’s Ramblings II: Cruising Life in the Pacific
S/V Windbird
March 14, 2006
Maybe this is the way sailing is for my multi-hull friends. I can set a drink down and not worry about it spilling. Well, actually I worry because I am a mono-hull sailor, and everything falls off the table when we sail – usually. But now everything is staying put. We are not heeled over. And yet we are doing six to seven knots. We are on a broad reach with light winds and no waves, just the large, gentle Pacific swell. The swell is so large that it hides the boat traveling with us up to above the boom – probably eight feet or so. But the distance between swells must be several hundred yards so we hardly feel them. Instead of rocking over the waves like a hobby horse, we gently rise with the swell and slide softly down the other side. The effect is mesmerizing. I can understand why Balboa (it was Balboa, wasn’t it) called it the “Pacific.” It is so peaceful.
Of course, we are not always sailing. We are in the ‘doldrums’ after all. We have probably motored about half the time on the trip from Panama to the Galapagos. Because we want to conserve on fuel, we have gone slow. Motoring at 1800 RPM’s we use about half a gallon of diesel per hour. At 2400 RPM’s we use a little more than a gallon per hour. But while fuel consumption is doubled, speed is only increased about 20 percent: from about 5 knots to 6 knots. We are in no hurry, so the extra speed is just not worth it. Besides, we have had a positive current with us of about one and a half to two knots for almost the entire passage. So, our five knots turns into almost seven knots over the bottom. Motoring at 1800 RPMs is also a lot quieter. The hum of the engine is always with us, but it is not loud so that we do not even notice it and feel almost as though we were sailing.
Since our computer stopped working a couple days ago, we have decided to buy a new one. My immediate thought was that I needed to talk to someone who knew what the best computers for the money were. So, I used the satellite phone to call Steve Bothwick who is the computer guru for New Hampshire Public Radio. Doreen answered the phone at the office and I was suddenly back home again and feeling very much among friends. We bought our satellite phone from Doreen, whose husband had it when he was stationed in Afghanistan. She got Steve on the phone and, sure enough, he had the answers I needed. Then he transferred me to Maureen Anderson because I so wanted to talk to everyone on the staff and I knew that Maureen would convey my feelings to them. It was a short call (satellite phone calls are expensive), but I was reminded of just how much I miss all the crew at NHPR, the staff and the Board. I spent a lot of time in the hours after that call thinking of each and every friend I have back there.
When I think of all our friends, I want to write them each a personal letter. But then, that does not get done. I just can’t seem to find time. You would think that we would have lots of time in this lifestyle. After all, we are retired (at least for now) and we are sailing, which is supposed to be a relaxing activity. And it is relaxing. But it is also demanding. We get up every day with a list of things that need to be done. Judy writes about some of them in our log. The ocean is a harsh environment. Metals rust, salt builds up on everything exposed, and the constant movement of the boat causes chafe and wear on all sorts of things. The sun deteriorates any finish so that varnishing of wood is a never-ending job. Canvas covers and shades need water-proofing. Stitching deteriorates in the hot tropical sun and needs to be re-sewn. And computers and cameras stop working because of the humid environment. We patch torn sails, sew webbing on areas of the dodger and bimini prone to chafe, sand and varnish woodwork, clean scum off the bottom of the dinghy and off the waterline of the boat, change the engine oil and filters, replace a broken bolt on the alternator, grease the pump mechanism on the head, and put grease in the gear box of the water-maker. And the list goes on and on. But I am not complaining. After all, the definition of cruising is “working on your boat in exotic locations.” How else could I get to these exotic locations? And once there, we have to tear ourselves away from boat work to enjoy the place we visit. For those of you who know us, Judy and I have always drunk life from a fire hose. We don’t know how to do anything half-way. We are constantly trying to fit ten activities into the time that any sane person would only attempt one or two. And we love it that way. So, if we don’t write, at least we hope our friends will read our logs (which are our letters home, after all) and keep us in their thoughts as they are in ours.
