June 7
Althea
Tue 8 Jun 2004 14:27
We have officially departed the Doldrums and have the SE trade winds ushering us along to the Marquesas. The Doldrums held quite a bit of activity after all. We woke up to a sea of wavering glass, there were no ripples or breaking waves, a mesmerizing sight, it appeared as if we had entered the ocean's version of the Sarhara desert, with gently swaying liquid dunes. We saw a pod of dolphins, a few sea turtles, and quite a few more sea birds. We also spotted our first sign of human life outside of our own since May 24th - a large cruising yacht. She wanted nothing to do with us, as we tried to hail them and got nothing back, oh well, their loss. We also took the opportunity to stop the boat and baptize ourselves in the great Pacific, which felt amazing as the temperature and humidity continues to soar.
We have also crossed a few milestones - less than 1000 miles to go, and we are within 3 degrees latitude of the Equator, which equates to about 1 day and some change. We have one bottle of champagne to celebrate that event and are putting it on ice soon. Once we cross the Equator, we will be known as Shellbacks. More later from the Equator.
Anne.