Miles traveled day 6: 115
Miles traveled total: 587
Miles to Majuro: 1,242
A friend from home emailed yesterday and asked what life was like on passage. He wondered if it was routine, boring, or busy. My answer is yes to all three. We definitely have a routine, which does get boring at times, but are also busy much of the time. Here’s a day in the life on passage. I’ll start at what you might think is the end, but actually getting sleep is the most important part, so that’s where it begins.
Rob hits the rack first at 5:00 pm and sleeps until 7:00. I sleep 7:00 to 11:00, then back on watch from 11:00 until 2:00, then back in the rack from 2:00 until 5:00. When I get up at 5:00 I feed the cat and make some toast. Then when Rob goes in at 5:00 am I let him sleep as long as he can; usually he’s back up around 9:00. He gets some toast or a snack and I sleep as long as I can, usually until 11:00. Then we’re both up for the rest of the day. I cook a light meal at 11:00 – porridge or eggs or cup o’ soup – and make a pot of coffee.
At noon we log our position and miles, then I sit down at the computer. It’s time to update the position on the website, request weather forecasts, write a blog posting and exchange emails with friends. We get quite a few emails while we’re on passage, which we’re always happy to have, many exchanging communications with our other friends who are also on passage or cruising. After I’m done on the computer Rob comes down and takes a break and I stand watch outside and read for a bit while Rob naps or putters downstairs. We shower in the afternoon. About 3:00 I start making dinner. Then at 4:00 we turn the Pacific Seafarer’s Net on the SSB, listen to the other boats check in, and get ready to call in with our position report. We eat at 4:30, then Rob washes the dishes and hits the rack at 5:00.
Pretty exciting, eh? Not so much. The variables, of course, are the weather. If we need to make a sail change we usually do that first thing in the morning before I go to bed for the last time, and/or in the late afternoon before Rob goes down for the first time. Do we like passages? As a rule yes we do – occasionally they can be stinky, but that’s just a result of the weather. Are we bored? Sometimes. Is Maya bored? Totally.
Teresa
