Pacific Odyssey - Leg 3

There isn´t too much to relate to you today.  We´ve had a wonderful day at sea.  The winds have calmed down somewhat; the courses and the trysail is still up, but the engine is also on.  We need to maintain a certain speed in order to fit in our passage to Tonga.  It is a perfect night, yes, one of those I want to remember when I´m back home.  The moon is a half-crescent, very bright on the water.  We can see each other on deck.  Nearly everyone is up on deck enjoying the night. Most are part of a conversation, many are reading with their headlamps on, and a few are writing.  Karen finished her telling of "Gone With the Wind."  It´s a good night for looking at the stars; Jupiter has become our star of reference, as well as the Southern Cross.  The temperature is slightly lower than body temperature, and it feels very soft.  When you lie on deck, looking up at the stars and the moon, you see the outline of the 2 masts making nearly 70degree arcs as they roll from port to starboard.  The motion has become less, but is still something you cannot forget about.  We slept well last night; we´re learning how to wedge ourselves into our bunks, setting bags, knapsacks, clothes, and towels in optimum places to create something to push or wedge against.  I sense that people are happy to be here, to be at sea together again.  We have been able to sit around the table with our watch, learning more about each other as we tell our life stories and answer questions from the watch members.  Sometimes we sit for 2 hours listening, and laughing . . . just hanging out together.  It´s good.  Tonight for supper, Chase, Scott and Tavish cooked the fish from yesterday.  They marinated half of it in a homemade teriyaki-style marinade, and fried the other half into the very popular seasoned nuggets.  Rounded out with corn and brown rice, it was a delicious supper. At suppertime tonight, another Dorado was caught.  10 minutes later, Chase was again reeling in a fish, this time something bigger and something that was putting up a wonderful fight.  After 25 minutes of hard work, Chase brought in a 70lb marlin.  We were just about to unhook it and let it go, when it snapped the line and took off for freedom, leaping and spinning in the air, a wonderful show.  Jose caught some of it on film.  Sam, Chris, Jacob and Noah started thinking about how to make a trebuchet again, looking into the EYE WITNESS books on Knights and Weapons and Armour for ideas.  Jacob and Tavish also made a fish gaff for hooking larger fish.  Tavish had brought the hook part, it needed a solid stick, a groove to fit it into, and a nice whipping to keep it all together.  They did a great job and thought they would be able to use it on the second fish tonight.  Next time.  Many trainees and crew took some time to ´shower´ today.  I think the award for the longest cleaning session, goes to Robyn.  She spent a good hour shampooing, cleaning, shaving, filing, etc.  It feels really good when it´s done; though it´s never like the 5 minute shower we´re used to at home. Like most things on the ship, deciding to have a bucket shower and getting clean is not just a decision or habit, it´s a plan . . . it´s what you´re deciding to do for a good part of your morning.  Katie and Arwen run a close second for having complete showers.  Jen and Jaimie did some yoga on the foredeck today, stretching muscles that just don´t get the stretching they do at home.  It´s quite tricky to do any kind of exercise on a rolling deck; it adds to the fun and perhaps even makes the stretch more efficient.  Today there was some sun tanning happening on the afterhouse; some of the trainees leaving in Fiji are working hard to get rid of those short and tank-top tan lines.  It was a very hot day, most of us tried to stay in the shade of the sails.  At 1800 hrs it was still very warm.  Our ETA for Independent Samoa is tomorrow evening sometime.  Samoa sounds like a very interesting place, very Polynesian with a strong tradition-based culture.  I´ve read that they are said to be some of the friendliest people in the South Pacific. We´re looking forward to it.  We have crossed another time zone and are now 4 hours behind Victoria or 11 hours less than Greenwich Mean Time.  This is it, until tomorrow, good night, Bonice.