Pacific Odyssey - Leg 3

It´s been another good day; a regular day at sea.  The wind has lightened up and it´s mostly engine power moving us forward.  Late in the afternoon the 2 courses came down, they weren´t drawing enough anymore.  We still have the trysail up to help with the roll.  We can tell we are travelling north; it´s getting much hotter as we near the equator.  To keep cool we continually throw buckets of coldish sea water over us and try to find a spot in the shade.  I noticed that during work watch today, many of the trainees were covering up in thin long sleeved hoodies, or sarongs, trying to keep from burning.  Just before supper, after a senior lesson on Tides and Currents, about 15-20 trainees had a communal shower, all with one deck bucket.  They couldn´t find the second bucket and the third bucket went overboard yesterday (turns out the second bucket was hiding forward of the dories).  Intermediates had their final lesson on Tides and Currents and have now covered all their course work and will have an exam in a few days, probably during the passage to Tonga.   Katie prepared some amazing meals today; for breakfast we had freshly baked granola and homemade yogurt, for lunch we had fresh fish prepared a different way by Chase, this time he baked it with butter, garlic, and spices, and for supper we had lamb, roasted potatoes, beets, quinoa and sauce for the quinoa . . . all very delicious.  Our cooks do a great job despite it being so incredibly hot in the galley.  At 1630 hrs today Skipper mustered everyone in the stern and with the help of a chart he had drawn on the dry-erase board, showed us the route we have travelled so far and the planned route for the remaining 3 weeks, always allowing for a change in plans if trainees find a place especially interesting or are done with it earlier than anticipated.  Bonice read out some information on things to be aware of in Samoa i.e. dress code, food and water, dogs, cultural expectations and assumptions etc.  Of all the countries we have travelled through so far, Samoa is by far the most conservative and probably the most easily to be offended by something we may be unaware of.  The Lonely Planet guide has some good tips and precautions for visitors and we shared those with the trainees and crew.  The Pacific Swift was in Samoa on the first offshore voyage in 1988, and had an incredible visit.  Jordan had his first ´boat´ haircut today and Tom and Susan have requested theirs. Sam,
Chris and Jacob began building the trebuchet today with wood they found in the
lazarette; it´s a great exercise, especially for Jacob, I consider it school as they need to figure out how to make it work and also do the calculations for cutting the wood.  Chase spent over an hour with the Anderson boys making new lures and cleaning his reel; something they all love to do.  It got darker and darker so the four of them grabbed their headlamps and all 4 lights were focused on the fishing supplies and Chase´s and Jacob´s hands putting the pieces together. Story time had to wait.  A bunch of girls and Karen spent the morning of her watch discussing a vast array of films and musicals, both classics and more temporary.  Karen has an amazing knowledge of actors, actresses, story lines and a great memory for some of the exact lines from the various films; its very admirable, it was a great talk.  We´ve come up with a great list of films to look up and work our way through once we return home.  Work watch resumed today, with Kelsey opening up her finger on the baggywrinkle.  We´re also working on the hatches, sanding and oiling them so they look smart and stay protected from the weather.  Tomorrow, September 20, is Jen´s dad, Carl´s, birthday.  Jen would like to wish her dad an amazing day.  Happy Birthday dad, from Jen.  This is it for tonight, it´s a gorgeously soft, warm night, the moon is bright, shining beautifully over the ocean, and the stars are visible . . . definitely a night to remember. Good night, Bonice.