Day 6 - Mostly Sailing Fast
Harmonie
Don and Anne Myers
Sat 15 Mar 2008 20:15
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06:07.107S 105:13.013W
We continue to sail along nicely at 8-9 knots
pointed generally in the right direction, although the wind has shifted more
behind us, so we are a little off course to the south in order to keep sailing
fast. With the wind and waves more behind us, the 'butt balancer' is not
always necessary when cooking or navigating around the boat, so we have been
quite successful keeping our balance with only the 'wide stance' for the past
several hours. This makes general functions like opening the refrigerator
or climbing up and down the companionway stairs much easier. We don't
really get any aerobic exercise while underway, but we can tell you that merely
climbing up and down the stairs from the cabin to the cockpit can be completely
exhausting if the boat motion is at an all time high and you have to pull
yourself up, all the while trying not to tip over sideways.
The weather continues to be beautiful. Not a
rain squall in sight (although a little rain would be nice, if only to wash off
some of the salt spray that arrived while sailing fast yesterday). Nothing
out of the ordinary has happened lately with the exception of one incident last
night. I was on watch from 4am to 7am, and was peering over the dodger
trying to get a good look through the gloomy dark (no moon) at what, if
anything, was in front of us. All of a sudden I felt something soft bonk
me in the head and then heard it land on the side deck behind me. I
grabbed the flashlight to see what Neptune had thrown at me this time, and a
squirmy, purple squid with a giant blue eye stared back at me in the dark.
Ugh! I had been squidded! This time I couldn't even bear to get the
tongs and tong the squid back overboard. I simply didn't want to get
near the thing. Instead, I left the poor little guy (he was only
about five inches long) to suffocate on our deck where he still lay
after the sun came up this morning when I snapped a few post-mortem
pictures. Grisly, I know. Don then disposed of the squid overboard
with his bare hands - I don't know how he can do that. I'll share the
picture with you the next time we have access to the internet. I'm sure a
picture of a dead squid, with it's giant blue eye staring blankly at you is
something you'll wait on the edge of your seat for.
Now it's time for...
Marquesas Semi-Useless Factoid #5:
The earliest inhabitants of the Marquesas are
believed to have migrated from Melanesia at about the time of Christ. The
population multiplied and the culture reached its maximum development from 1400
- 1790, with a maximum population during that time of about 100,000
people.
As you might recall, Marquesas Semi-Useless
Factoid #3 indicated that the current population of the island group is only
8,632. So what happened to the other 90,000+ people? Tune in
tomorrow for Factoid #6 to find out.
Anne |