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82 hours into the passage to Marshall Islands

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Should have bought a “trawler” for this passage! Motoring continues, with some mixed motors and sails.

Today was a big day, we changed our sail! The “Iron Jib” has been doing great job keeping us on course and heading the correct direction despite the lack of wind. So was time for a big change. The Iron Jib got a reprieve from pushing us forward. We broke out the “Iron Genoa” the Iron sail on the other side of the boat. They are very similar in the wind range they can support. Some times you can even use them together, for example when trying to go fast or docking and you just need more Umpff! But since we are being conservative and want those Iron sails to last, should we need them for the entire trip, just using one at a time makes more sense, and uses a lot less diesel. So port is getting its turn.

With little wind, and what wind there is is following us, its frigging HOT and sticky ,so today was a good shower day. Cooled off and made me smell less. Feeling proud of my accomplishment, it was time to take a nap.

On the horizon, could it be, something to look forward to? Yes, Happy Happy, Joy Joy.. it is a squall, and a big one at that. Now normally these things wreak havoc with your planned sail route. But today it’s celebrated as something different from the flat clam windless days. I really should have waited for a shower. The adage says, if you take a shower a free one will come your way. Just extra clean.

Here comes excitement

First check radar, it’s a biggie, 6 miles thick, no going around it. Study the gray mass in front of you. Check radar again, yes the radar alarm had already gone off. Do your best to skirt the edge and look for a “less gray” place to cross. Next comes the cool breeze, the 4 knots of wind from behind changes to 22 knots from the front, the calm sea changes to, “Where did all these short choppy waves come from?”. Rain comes from everywhere. Once through the front wall, the winds change from east to west so out comes the actual cavas sail on the other side and sail for an hour or two until the previous no wind condition returns and back ot your normal programming.

All good, boat got a little rinse, some excitement for a bit and it was daylight so easy to see it coming.

This area with the SPCZ and ITCZ zones is notorious for squally condition so we are counting our blessings for the boring passage. Even though we are motoring more than any other time, ever, the comfort level onboard is perfect for catching up on sleep.

Friday, aka another 48 hours from now should be favorable, fingers crossed, for sailing along through the weekend. Assuming the forecast actually comes through.

So we have completed 1/3 of the passage in real rough math, we started with 1300 miles, we made 430 miles, and have around 834 to go, but who is keeping track of those pesky numbers, really. The little guy remembering all those numbers says we have been only averaging a little over 5 knots.

Just before dinner, almost like he wanted to join us, another marlin takes a liking to our offerings. Spectacular water show was displayed by Mr Marlin. So spectacular and skilled he was, even ended his performance with a bow. While taking a bow, he said “pffffft”, your dinner needs to be seasoned and spit his dinner back at us and stormed off. Didn’t even want to hear about the desert menu. I certainly hope he does not leave a bad Yelp review.

International Taco night for dinner, some Chicken Curry wrapped in a tortilla and same with some chicken fajitas. Finished up some left overs.

First 24 Hours to Marshalls

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A perfect morning for a sail. A little gray, not too much sun to get sun burnt. Nice gentle breeze, no drama when the sails are up. Still behind the reef so very little waves. Pretty sweet.

Sails up, and off to the races we go. First day, going conservative start with one reef in the main sail, just incase the forecast is a little off. Works perfectly, nice easy sail. As “Lonely Island’s” song goes “Busting 8 knots in my flippy floppies”. Nice start.

Still concerned about the SPCZ thunderstorms that would be ahead, but just as Moses did the red sea, the SPCZ split and left us alone. Warnings to the left of us, and some to the right, but the center was clear. Yippie.

However, the splitting left us with very little wind to sail with so we changed the stereo station from Pop to Country we landed on “Little Big Towns” “Pontoon” with the Chorus .. Motor Boating. For the next few days at least that “Motor boating” song will be stuck in your head and ours as we endure the drone of an engine to make reasonable progress.

The blue zone, comes with perks too. No electrical worries, batteries will be fully charged. Water tanks full, no reason not to run the water maker. Warm water, all the warm water you use.

Glassy conditions, sail ready should the wind show up

The blue zone was in the forecast, it just came a little sooner than hoping and the blue zone has gotten much larger ahead of us. We will not be setting any 24 distance records with just one motor running, we only dropped off a mere 130 nm toward Majuro, Marshall Islands in the first 24 hours.

So all good on the big watery road, a nice chicken peanut curry for dinner. Too many miles left to count…. 😎

The Journey begins by pulling the hook

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Well the journey begins well before the passage starts…

Destination researched, formalities discovered, paperwork agonized, meals prepped, boat stocked, safety gear organized, weather scrutinized all leading to sheer chaos or mental madness.

Waiting on clear skies.

This next voyage will commence in a few hours. Some 1300 miles away is Majuro, Marshall Islands. Majuro is nearly due north from where we are in Vanuatu, just across the equator so to speak. To get there we will go through 2 weird weather convergence zones, hopefully we have chosen a decent time cross the ITCZ and SPCZ, places where the weather comes together to argue. Think about it this way, the toilets in the northern hemisphere flush counter clockwise, and in the southern hemisphere flush clockwise. (Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0778446/plotsummary/) We will be trying not to argue with the hemisphere’s choices on the direction of the spin but simply pass through without getting all caught up in their political agendas.

What normally happens in the zones is squalls or no wind.

So it begins