Location: 20 miles East of Nendo, Solomon Islands
I’m supposed to write about today. When did that start exactly? At midnight? At sunrise? When I woke up? The watch system blends nights and days to no recognition. And I am on all of them. Gabe woke me up at night because the wind died, so we dropped the flogging main sail. At first light, I was up again, checking the horizon for clues about the upcoming weather. Comparing these with our latest weather forecast, which I downloaded with our satellite phone, feeds my decisions about today’s sail plan and updating our course. Not only we want to make the most of the wind, we also want to keep a safe distance to the islands and reefs en-route. Islands? Reefs? Yes! Welcome to the Solomon Islands. The first sight of land since leaving Fiji took place at sunrise today: Vanikolo island.
How refreshing. We are not alone. I took the helm so the entire watch team 1 could raise the entire main sail. It is heavy! We hoisted the jib, too, and were joyfully gliding 9-10 knots on slight seas. What an exhilarating ride! Joshua’s first-ever attempt at baking bread was a huge success, perfectly complimenting his tomato soup for lunch. After lunch, I surveyed our potato boxes and tossed the moldy ones overboard. Then, I could afford a quick safety nap. I hardly ever get more than three uninterrupted hours of sleep underway. Before dinner, I checked on a head macerator (toilet suction) that made the noises of a toy train. Joshua impressed us again with a finger-licking dessert after dinner. During dinner, we saw a large drifting red jerrycan, and I challenged everybody to keep sight of it as long as they could. In the slight sea, Austin managed to see it the longest: one minute and forty-five seconds. That was a good reminder for everybody of the importance of staying on board. I’m gonna send out this blog shortly, then head out to the cockpit and reduce the Main Sail to the third reef for the night. That would make a broad reach between islands and atolls safer and easier to steer. Then into the galley to prepare some date-coconut-cashew-cacao balls for tomorrow, before hitting the pillow.