Yesterday, Christi woke up not feeling very good. Her tummy hurt and her digestive system was unhappy. Despite that, she had a busy morning. She continued cooking for the passage, and while food was in the oven, went in to scrape more barnacles off the metal and the hull. Eric scrubbed the bottom with a sponge for a little bit, taking off the softer things that grow, like the grass. We kind of dragged our feet with our usual get ready to go routine. We were especially happy in Bonaire and we are having a hard time leaving.

Eric went to start up the engine at 1600. It clicked but didn’t turn over. Hmmm. The battery must be low. Eric used the house batteries to start the engine and we pulled out a few minutes later (the starter and generator batteries are separate from “house” batteries that run the electricity for lights, plugs, appliances, etc). There were a lot of snorkelers in the water near our boat, so we had to be extra careful to make sure we didn’t run anyone over. Even though we moved well away from the snorkelers we could see, there is always a little fear that there is one more you can’t see that decided to swim right in your path. When we were out far enough from shore, we deployed the paravanes.

When we left, the winds were light, the seas were calm, it was sunny and visibility was excellent. By 1800 we could clearly see Curacao in the distance. Wow. These two islands really are super close together! Curacao looks like it has bigger hills than Bonaire, but we didn’t get close enough in daylight to get a look at the infrastructure. We had a lovely sunset, and by 1900 it was dark. From the number of lights, it was immediately obvious how much bigger and more developed Curacao is. There are lights everywhere, and it looks like the whole island is totally built up. We could see several AIS targets emanating from Curacao’s port, so clearly they get a lot of shipping traffic. We wanted to be protected from the prevailing swells by Curacao, so we stayed close to the island as we passed.

In between Curacao and Aruba, the seas picked up some, but the ride was still pleasant. This morning, we could see the lights of Aruba gleaming vibrantly at 0400. By 0600, we were in the lee of the island and it was totally calm in the sheltered waters. We passed a large refinery and could see the low and flat shoreline ahead is all built up with industrial looking structures, like giant cisterns and more refineries. There were also enormous piles of what we think is sand that looks like it is ready to be loaded onto a container vessel. And, we saw several tankers in the waters around the area. There are some hills in the distance, comparable in size to Bonaire’s. Well, maybe a tad bigger. We didn’t see a whole lot of greenery, so it is probably an arid island like Bonaire. Isn’t Aruba supposed to be a giant vacation resort? Where are all the hotels and gorgeous beaches?

As we neared the western tip of the island, we could see it is very, very low to the water, only inches above sea level, like the southern tip of Bonaire. Here there are a few groupings of high rises. Maybe this is the resort area? It seems unlikely. The resorts must be on another part of the island.

At 0830, Eric slowed down the RPM’s from 1700 to 1600 because we were going way too fast, booking along at 8.2 knots. We couldn’t believe our speed! Currents are great when they are in your favor. Even down at 1600 RPM we were still flying along at 7.8 7.9 consistently for a few hours. It was crazy! Unfortunately, at this speed we are probably going to arrive in the middle of the night, so we do need to slow down some more.

By 0900 we were completely out of the protection of the island and the rocking picked up. It was not a bad ride, but only because we were running with dual stabilization. We are getting hit with the occasional 20 degree roll, and if we are getting this much roll with dual stabilization, we are sure it would have been quite unpleasant if we were only running with one set of stabilizers. The wind is 10 17 knots apparent from the aft rear corner (which is about 17 24 real knots). The waves are only 3 4 feet, but since they are coming from the back corner, it causes that terrible corkscrew motion.

The day was sunny and bright with almost no clouds in the sky. The temperature has been pleasant. In the afternoon it was so bright that we couldn’t go in the pilot house at all. It was just blinding in there. We were relieved when the sun went down. The moon didn’t rise until after midnight, and in the interim the sky was dark and the starts were vibrant. Looking at the heavens is such a moving experience sometimes. It really makes you wonder at how amazing our world and universe is. When the moon did rise, it was only half full and did not give off a ton of light.

The wind is coming directly from our rear, so it is, of course, hot and smelly downstairs from the engine room air. We also have a smell coming from one of the tanks, either gray water or black water. We tried to run the AC to reduce heat and smell, but the unit downstairs wouldn’t stay on. Sigh. We are not sure what is wrong with it. It may simply be that we are rolling too much and air is getting into the sea water intakes. Since the forward stateroom is better ventilated than the mid-stateroom, Eric has been sleeping in there on this passage. It is the first time either of us has tried sleeping there at sea and he thinks for these conditions, it is better up there.

Christi’s digestive system is still unhappy and now Eric’s is, too, so we must have a virus of some sort. Oh, and we crossed the 27,000 nautical mile mark. Man, that is a lot of miles. Our current land/sea ratio is 27% at sea.

And a couple of blog questions:

Q: Do you have a stern anchor and do you use it much?
A: We have a light Danforth stern anchor and we have never used it.

Q: Do you think an east to west circumnavigation is practical?
A: Yes, going east to west is doable. In the Pacific, it is a harder ride going east to west. You can either have to go take a more northerly route by way of the North Pacific islands to San Francisco or Seattle or via Japan to Siberia and Alaska. Both are tough runs. Or you could go farther south and go to places like Pitcairn and Easter Islands, which aren’t known for having comfortable anchorages. Plus, you’d miss out on the South Pacific islands, which are our favorite landfalls in all the world.