Passage Notes: S/v Encanto
12 June 2006-1000

Position
N 03.45
W 082. 11
Tracking 165

From the CAPTAIN's Log
Yesterday was an exercise in boredom management. We had been motoring since yesterday at 5:30 pm. It's now 30 hours later. UGH. The swell has flattened out so the ride hasn't been bad at all. The wind gods were tempting me all day as there would be cat paws spread out on the water. From the north. Visions of sailing down wind, wing-on-wing. Going 2 knots. Better than motoring. Not as boring.

We had a great time sitting out on deck for dinner, sunset and moon rise. With a full moon rising to the east and the southern cross formation on our nose, it was an incredible sight. It all started before dinner while I was just getting started taking a shower. The call came for me to come up, a boat was on the horizon. Could be bad news. The nice thing in Latin America, they like kids. So I had the girls come up and we all sat on deck as we motored by. We got no closer than 1/2 mile. Turned out to be a fish boat, probably from Panama, but couldn't tell. They were anchored. In 2000 meters of water. How? We couldn't see anyone, they must have been resting up for the night ahead. Still don't know what the boat was attached to, but a line off the bow went into the water and they were headed into the swell. After we passed, we had dinner and watched the floor show of flying fish, white boobies, and the occasional dolphin jump to the bow.

Which brings me to my musings:

• Why do sailors leave at first light? Why not second, third or half? Or even during elevensis. (see Lord of the Rings and Hobbit habits)
• Sailboats are a way of having your very own gym, and motor home. Given the weather conditions, sailing is an amazing way to build upper body strength. And the motivation. How 'bout NOT DYING? When the wind gets up to 30 knots in no time flat, there isn't much choice for - "ya know, I really don't feel much like going to the gym tonight." The cool thing is once your done with the workout you can hit the snack bin. And reps - plenty of those. You also get to better your night vision. All the real bad stuff happens at night. Not just any night, but the blackest of 'em.
• They say cruising is the art of doing boat maintenance in exotic ports-of-call. It's so much more than that. It's the world tour of hardware stores, internet cafes and back alley machine shops. Not to mention learning how to illegally import all kinds of boat stuff into whichever country you're in.
• There are no single handlers out here. Mister Murphy has a permanent crew position on all boats. I think Murphy was the guy who kept cloning himself in the last Matrix movie. He also lets the other people catch all the fish.
• Every boat has to have a corner sitting  position for each crew member. We don't just sit like most people. We lounge. Feet up. Taking up space. Our boat has 2 corners. We have 4 people. That means there are lurkers. If you have a corner and get up to go to the head, most likely the corner will be taken when you return. Tough. I'm thinking of ripping out the galley just to add 2 more corners. Use a blow torch to heat water and everyone gets a can opener and a spoon, Yum.

I'm sure there will be more.........

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