Passage - By Zeke

 

Dear Reader
Recently we crossed the Pacific Ocean between Galapagos and the Marquesas. This passage is over 3000 miles long and takes a long time. It took us 27 days of drifting sailing. Boy what a relief it was to get there. Below I have written about the day to day routine of life on passage, why we like passage and many other things.


What’s Above Deck Like on Passage?

Mojombo under sail

Passage is often quite boring but at the same time quite interesting. A large part of the time you are on the sea is spent on deck watching for hazards such as squalls and other boats, of which there are many.

When you’re on watch it is an interesting feeling to know that you are in the middle of an ocean with nothing and nobody anywhere near you. Also at night the stars are amazing so bright and clear with no big lights competing or smog. The boat sails on over the waves rolling from side to side on the ever present swell. Excuse the pun but it really is a swell experience.

There are of course reasons other than star gazing that make us do watch. As mentioned before ships, squalls and keeping the boat moving in the right direction help keep you awake day and night. Passage is often quite tiring as someone has to be always awake and watching. If the wind changes direction a sail change is often required. Sail changes can last anywhere between a couple of minutes to an hour and can differ in their physical demands.

Staying awake on watch at night is not often easy. I split two three hour watch’s with Nina at night meaning I come on at 10:30pm and come off at midnight and come back on at 4:30am and off at six in the morning. When you come on watch you are initially quite tired but after a hot drink you are feeling better and you try and keep busy tidying a rope, checking your course and the sails.

The sunset’s as we run before the trade winds

I like passage being out there in the middle of nowhere just sailing forever sailing onwards with the purpose of going somewhere new. There are of course down sides one of these is that you can become extremely bored and I have more to say about this in the next paragraph.

Somewhere new

What’s Below Deck Like on Passage?
When you are down below lying in your bunk there is only a limited amount of things one can do. Trying to find some diversity in the days events can be quite hard and in the end all the days blend together. Read on to find out about our day’s events.

Reading is my chief occupation during passage and occupies me from around six in the morning to nine. At nine o’clock, the computer comes out and I proceed to play two to three hours of computer games. Around noon I come on watch and at two o’clock I come below to read some more. Dinner is at five and afterwards Nina and I tidy up. In the evening Nina and I watch a movie, read or go on watch. In the morning the processes repeats itself day after day. This is a very simple roster and often changes but it gives you a rough idea of our day.


What its Like to Get There

Food fantasies

After so long at sea fresh food starts to become scarce and meals ever more simple. Food fantasies of fresh bread and other everyday food items become increasingly common. Also exercise is another one of those things you want, so when you finally get there after almost a month you just can’t wait to get ashore and walk to the shop. It is our custom that when we arrive at port after a long passage we celebrate by sharing a large bar of chocolate (this also helps us walk to the shop). When you arrive there can be sometimes a great sense of achievement you have crossed an ocean harnessing the winds as billions of people have done before.

Harnessing the wind as billions of others have done before us.

Thanks For Reading This

This blog piece you can tell is written from the personal feeling’s and I have tried to make inspiring as possible and make you realize if you already haven’t why we are sailing around the world. Admittedly sailing round the world is mostly about seeing other places and that is another amazing experience on its own. But another part of the experience is the sailing it’s what keeps us moving on around the world.

I hope you have enjoyed this blog entry about the life I live upon the seas and have not found me boastful as I tell you about the life I live.

Zeke

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