16:42.770S 176:34.593W - Rockin' Irene
Irene IV - World Adventure
Louis Goor
Sun 19 Jun 2022 07:44
With the wind forecast to change to a more northerly direction in the next
24 hours, we are readying ourselves to say goodbye to the fabulous easterly
trades that Irene IV has relished. We have been blessed with winds well
above 9 knots, Irene IV's sweet spot. She has performed admirably, even with
the high rolling, confused seas that make the auto pilot work extra hard to
keep us on course. A gybe earlier today is bringing us closer to our
penultimate waypoint, 281 nautical miles away. Having been on a port tack
these past 7 days, a tack that suits the layout of the boat, we are now on a
starboard tack, which has the humans all disoriented. Irene IV ploughs on,
rockin' and rollin', through the great Pacific Ocean.
We had hoped to see whales, as it is the beginning of the Humpback Whale
migration season, but with the bumpy seas, that is only a slim possibility.
Yesterday we passed over the Tonga Trench, with a depth of 10,632 meters,
one of the deepest ocean spots in the world. Louis and Rob figured out that
if we were to drop a penny, it would take 5 hours for it to reach the
bottom!
The International Date Line wends its wiggly way around Tonga, so we elected
to lose Friday, much to Rob's chagrin. "What about Friday happy hour?", he
cried. He had to put up with a Saturday happy hour instead. "It's just not
the same!", he intoned.
Yesterday was also a day of finding ways of using up our many, many bananas,
all ripening at the same time. Banana bread, to eat and to freeze, banana
pancakes, banana and mango relish for an Indian meal, mashed bananas in sets
of 3 to freeze for future banana bread. Tomorrow we will make banana and
mango ice cream. I am going quite bananas!
We put away our first trash bag in the lazarette today! We continue to
reduce our landfill waste but recognize that there is always room for
improvement.
You know that we have been on passage too long when we start writing silly
songs to while away the time! Today's rendition sends many apologies to the
Jackson 5's "Rockin' Robbin".
Rockin' Irene
Tweetly deetly dee
Rockin' Irene
Tweetly deetly dee
Rockin' Irene
Tweetly deetly dee
Rockin' Irene
Tweet, tweet, creak, creak
She rocks on the wave tops all day long
Rockin' and a bobbin' and creaking her song.
Louis, Sabine Heidi, Liz and Rob,
Love to hear Irene go tweet, creak, bob.
Rockin' Irene, rock, rock
Rockin' Irene.
Blow the sails to Fiji and
We're really gonna rock tonight.