05.47N 81.53W

JENNY
Alan Franklin/ Lynne Gane
Sat 9 Feb 2008 07:24
It is now just coming up to 01.30 you can guess I'm on watch, with nothing to watch,its dark,(the moon is in it's 1st 1/4) quiet, and smooth apart from the engine throbbing in my ear,boats are not so well sound insulated as cars.
You don't really think about the moon at home but here it makes a big difference as it's your light at night and when it's not there it's really dark and there is nothing to see,no ships or sea life as they are to busy hunting supper the big ones eating the little ones right up the food chain ,bit like life really.
 
Having left the Las Perlas we are now on our way to the Galapagos which at this moment some 612.5 nm away as we are currently making 142/150nm per day under engine because there is only 5kts of wind on our nose we have around 4/5 days to go.
Our daily routine consists of domestic chores cooking ,washing ,cleaning and boat maintenance ,repairs with a bit of reading sleeping and generally laying about.The main problem as we go south and west is the heat as during the day the temperatures reach over 40 degrees which makes it a pretty sweaty affair for all of us so no chores are done with haste,if you are on cooking detail then you have to break off for some air every few minutes.At the moment we need to conserve our water supplies as the generator is playing up and the watermaker has decided that it wants a rest but we may be able to fix that until I can get some new spares we also have to conserve fuel as it looks from the weather reports that we may be motoring all the way.So all in all its a bit of a balancing act but that is nothing new.
 
Over the past few days we have caught 2 fish a Tuna (think I prefer the tinned stuff) and a Mahi Mahi which is a beautiful fish to look at bluey yellow and some green and delicious to eat so the freezer is well stocked ,you knowsometimes it takes an hour from the time its hooked to the time its in the bucket and then there's the gutting and cleaning,so its not quite the same as going down the supermarket but it tastes a whole lot better straight from the sea.
 
There is no real division of labours on a small boat but generally the men are expected to be more technical about the equipment and fixing things ,just like at home ,but we all chip in with the rest of the chores as all of us are expected to sail the boat especially as we run a single watch system.Ellie is currently learning the ropes so she shares a watch with Jenny but from tomorrow she will be having her own watch with us just keeping an eye on her.While on the subject of Ellie last night was her first ever sailing through the night experience and the wind got up to 22kts and the boat was doing 9.5 kts at one point,we were a bit over canvassed (to much sail up ) .Jenny reefed down but I think it scared Ellie a bit.
Today she has started doing other bits and bobs such as completing the log where you have to detail on paper date time position (Lat and Long) speed,course etc so that we have a record of where we are how fast we are going  and our course just in case we need to refer to them and for our own records in case something happens such as a sighting of something unusual.We will teach her as much as she wants and needs to be an able crew but the sailing life doesn't come easy to her but she is trying hard to be interested in the boating ways.
 
Long distance sailing consists of a daily routine which doesn't vary too much apart from the weather and its effect on the sea and the boat that is the outward challenge the inward one is how you face up to all the challenges of boredom,being scared.and generally being self reliant and coping ,one of the plus sides is you do get to see some interesting places on the way.