- Position and Time: N 06-49 by W 132-58 at 1722 UTC, 1784 miles from
San Diego - Average Speed and Course: 6.1 knots, 212 degrees true, 1600rpm
- Wind: 15 knots at 270 degrees relative
- Waves: 6-8 foot swells at 10 seconds, 4-6 foot wind waves.
On Tuesday evening, after we sent the last update, the seas became significantly rougher and it tried to rain. By “tried to rain” I mean that it would drizzle for a few minutes, stop for a while, then drizzle for a few minutes, and so on. That lasted for 36 hours. This meant we had to keep the boat all closed up. When we closed the boat up on Tuesday night it quickly became warm and uncomfortable without the ocean breeze to cool us off. So, Wednesday and part of Thursday we turned on the generator so we could run the air conditioner. We took advantage of the generator being on and did some laundry.
Oddly enough, after the rain started, we saw the sun peek through the clouds quite a bit, sometimes getting sun & drizzle simultaneously. There was a large rainbow off the starboard bow (translation for those that don’t speak “boat”: right side of the front of the boat) both days. Another oddity is that we saw more birds after it began drizzling than we have seen in days. And, thankfully, there was no lightening at all. No ships or sailboats, either.
On Wednesday, Richard caught a fish! The first fish caught aboard Kosmos! Eric bravely batted the 7 pound Mahi Mahi to death. Christi shielded her eyes, then she went inside before the bloodshed began. Richard made us a family style fish dinner. It is by far the best fish Christi and Eric have ever tasted. The fresher the fish, the better it tastes and you don’t get any fresher than minutes from line to oven. We also have had 4 flying fish land on the boat over the last couple of days.
Last night we were able to see the stars for a few hours. There was no moon, so the stars were amazingly bright. Today we are getting real rain and the seas are some of the roughest we have experienced yet. Hopefully, this storm will pass quickly. The forecast is for calmer seas near the equator.
Life on this passage has been totally opposite from land life. Before, we were in non-stop, high speed preparation mode for this trip. Now, the ever present motion and recent heat/humidity has made us all lethargic more so than we would have expected.
We are now in the Keys and moving toward our meeting point for the MedBound. We are on Adventure. An N62 which has done the trip you are doing. Capt Dave has done the south pacific and thousands of other miles. He says you are doing the best cruise there is.
My wife wants to know if you are bored, scared, anxious or what. Is the third person a friend or relative? What kind of experience? How is the boat performing?
Gary, On Adventure
Dear Richard, Eric and Christi…thanks for the update, as just last night I had started worrying about you. I just had not heard a thing for a few days. It is a strange feeloing from here having your best friend such a distance..isolating distance away. Richjard cooks the best fish dinners abord a boat..starting in his late teens..although usually he drank more beer. It sounds like there is a continuous wave action, and I had no idea what you7 faced..but was hoping for some totally calm seas..it’s justs a trip into the unknown..which makes it so mysterious. Good luck to you all. You have the best boat to deal with anything you face. Warm regards from Portland Mike Lindberg
I ditto what Mike Lindberg said, Greg and I were starting to get a little worried. Suddenly the plug was pulled and there were no blog updates to satisfy our need to track your progress. Forced to re-runs so early in the season! We were about to send out the rescue wave runner.
-rich
A more humane (and much less messy) way to subdue the fish is to simply pour a small amount of alcohol (rum, vodka, whatever) over the gills. The fish will immediately go limp and will feel nothing. I ran a charter boat for 10 years and my customers were always amazed at how well this works.
So glad ou were able to write. I too was gettin worried. Our poor Catalina Island was up in smoke.
Hey,
We have been reading along..enjoying a peak into what we will one day be in for! we are so bummed we were unable to hook up and help you out before you left. Brian had some unexpected travel for 3 weeks and the only weekend he was not exhausted from criscrossing the country I had a terrible cold and did not want to expose anyone.
best to you all… we will be anxiously watching for the next update!
forgot to ask… is it like you expected so far?
Sounds exciting and a real adventure. Please keep me posted