Approaching Ecuador 150208 00:24S 80:54W

Southern Princess
John & Irene Hunt
Sat 16 Feb 2008 14:13
Today's blog will be easy to write!
 
The last time I crossed the equator on a boat was in 1960 somewhere south of Ceylon as it was known in those days. I was 20 years old, dressed as Neptune, with false beard & trident and some kind of a loin cloth attended by a bevy of scantily clad beauties (think itzy bitzy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikinis) all crammed into a rather scruffy aft deck of the Castel Felice a ship which used to bring the ten pound Poms to Australia from the UK. We were travelling 'steerage' and there was also FIRST & SECOND - all too posh for us. We weren't allowed into those classes but those classes were allowed to slum so most of the itzy bitzy bikini birds were from FIRST.
 
While the ship's crew counted down to the equator using a sextant, they were probably about as close as a 1/2 mile while today the course computer counted it down in metres. I have a picture showing latitude as 00:00.000N and then moments later 00:00.003S. Southern Princess is now in her home waters.
 
The equator off the coast of Ecuador is not as I imagined it. It is bucketing down, Bruce our weatherman says thunder storms are sweeping down on us from the east and we have 25 knots right on the nose. Motoring again! (Delise - honest we do go sailing often!)
 
Crossing the equator 15th February 2008 after a rough night. Two hours on
and two off with just two of us on board is hard work. The champagne tasted great!
That's Storyteller's stern in the background.
 
Travelling just the two of us, while hard work, is rather gratifying. Irene not only does her 2 hour watch, she makes fantastic meals which are always interesting and varied. I do the odd breakfast but she is the food stalwart. Also her long distance vision is lots better than mine and as a look out she has few peers. Some of you will remember her nickname (Radar) during the South Pacific cruise in 2001 on 'Bushranger'.  Radar hasn't lost her touch!
 
We should arrive in La Libertas tomorrow morning so will continue with the blog site later in the week. Got an interesting picture of a big breasted model for those of you with that 'bent'.
 
Cheers
 
JH