Cooler Weather, Rubbish and New Food Bag

Still good progress south but the big news for today is that I actually turned one of my little Hella cabin fans off this morning for the first time in weeks! Two little fans probably don't sound like anything to write home about but believe me they've been a total lifeline, running constantly and doing a great job of helping me keep cool. Maybe it's too soon to start hoping, but it finally feels like it's started getting cooler over the last few days. You can be sure that it will be no time at all and I'll be complaining about the cold!

It’s still been very squally out here, with the squalls leaving behind a messy chop on the swell and making a mockery of anything I'd like to call sleeping patterns. I've been cat napping all afternoon to try and make up for lost sleep. Ella's Pink Lady's still making good ground south at the moment. Then sometime tomorrow morning we'll be tacking over to make some ground to the east to hopefully pick up a more easterly wind. We passed back over the date-line today putting the local time zone at GMT-10, not that that means all that much to me. If anything I'm still running on Queensland time!

One of today's little jobs included my weekly attempt to compact and package up my rubbish for storage in the bow. Obviously anything that's degradable goes over the side and anything that's left, which is pretty much only plastic packaging, gets washed out if needed and carefully packaged up till I get home.

With nothing left in the last food bag but a tin of baked beans and a packet of banana chips (dinner wasn't looking very exciting!) today marked the start of a new food bag (see pic below), lots of exciting new treats, and there's even a present from Grandma in this one!

Jesse

Pic: Getting into the new food bag!

Wind Getting Up Again

Today started off with a passing squall giving me a very wet wake-up while reefing down and trying to catch it on camera (see pic below). I'd have thought it was pretty clear that I was wide awake after the first wave but apparently not. To think that some people start their day with a quiet coffee!

As usual the squall was far more bark than bite, looking very dramatic asit approached as a great big dark cloud, but not coming to much more than 30knots of wind and some rain. Although I was a little surprised at how fast a messy chop built up on top of the swell. It's been overcast and drizzly ever since, but at least the wind settled into a steady 18knots this afternoon. Ella's Pink Lady is hard on the wind again but it's life as normal, passing the time reading, doing a little schoolwork or my all time favourite, just standing behind the dodger, wind and spray in my face watching us blast along. I can't see myself ever getting bored of that one!

I've had the charts for French Polynesia out swatting up on what's coming our way in the next while and have been thinking about a few of the jobs that need to be done before we hit the south. I've been a bit lazy with my cooking lately mostly just heating up an Easyfood meal or snacking on crackers. I probably shouldn't be admitting it (I'll ruin my reputation), but I've even resorted to eating two minute noodles when I really don't feel like cooking.

Sorry but that's it from me tonight.

Jesse

Pic: My morning wake up call!

Another Day

Mostly just the usual out here today, still flying along really nicely, any tips on avoiding speed cameras?! A few squalls have kept me busy reefing in and out and I spent a lot of my down time today catching up on a little sleep after being kept awake last night with a passing boat and a few little squalls.

You've probably noticed on the tracker that we've been passing the odd island but nothing compared to what's coming up next week as we reach French Polynesia, I'm enjoying the sea room while it lasts!

I'm not sure how best to put this but a lot of people have been wondering and asking so here goes; yes, it's definitely me writing these blogs! Having someone blog under my name is a big no go for me. Can you imagine letting your Mum or anyone else describe your feelings to the world under your name? Ouch! Well maybe it's just a teenage thing! But I do have to confess, my updates have to be spell checked before being published. My spelling is, can we just say a little notorious!

While I'm on a roll with these confessions, I've got another one for you too. Sorry everyone, but I don't just blog to satisfy your curiosity, but also because I love writing them!

Oh and yes I did open that can of mangoes and quite a few cans after that! I've been justifying my total mango pig out by telling myself that as a tropical fruit the mangoes need to be eaten while still in the tropics. There's plenty of other treats stashed away for the cooler legs.

Everyone back home is out having fun at the local Christmas lights parade tonight (I'm a little jealous but right here on Ella's Pink Lady is still my first preference). So, not to be outdone, I think I'll have another movie night with plenty of popcorn and chocolate. Anyway the stars out here would easily get first prize in any competition!

Jesse

Flying Along and Mangos

Heeled over, under full sail and throwing water everywhere Ella's Pink Lady has been flying along today. It can't just be me that's busting to get south! The wind has come round to the east a little more, meaning that we've been able to ease off the wind a little, making life a little more comfortable and reach along directly south.

While giving the galley a reorganize today I was pretty thrilled to come across a stash of tinned mangoes! I've been hearing all about how lovely the mangoes are back home at the moment, so finding I had my own supply on board was a lot like Christmas! Sure they are not quite the same as fresh but they're not bad either. I have a feeling that this just isn't something that I'm going to be able to ration! Oh and I think I can safely say that tinned mangoes are every bit as messy to eat, as the fresh ones or maybe that's just me?

Nothing too much else to report out here today so I thought I'd explain a little more about the plan for the next leg to the cape. The distance (5450nm) that I gave yesterday as the distance to Cape Horn is the distance in a straight line but weirdly we're actually going to be sailing a slightly shorter route, I know it sounds really strange but it's all to do with something called the great circle route and the curvature of the earth. I'm probably not the best person to explain it but as an example, if I were to plot out our course directly to South America taking in to account the earth's curvature the fastest way to get there would actually be to sail in an arc to the south. Our great circle route or the fastest way to get to the cape is to sail south and then gently arc over to the east (5130nm). So if we can keep up an average speed of 5 knots, eta (estimated time of arrival) at Cape Horn should be around the first week of January, but who knows there's every chance that we might pick up a little speed down south and get there bit earlier?

That would all be easy enough but then there's all these annoying islands and reefs in the way! And to add to the fun, it's not like the wind ever just lets us go where we want to.

I'm going to finish up by apologizing to all the people my explanation maybe just completely confused!

That's me for the night, Parker's wondering off course a little as the wind is dropping off slightly so I better go set us back on course, then I'm faced with a bit of a tough decision, do I or do I not open another can of mango?


Jesse

P.S Thanks for all the Happy Thanksgiving's from America!

Washing Machine

It hasn't been the most amazing out here today, overcast, squally and the sea has been a bit of a mess, it must be a lot like the inside of a washing machine! Bob predicted that the swell would become a little uncomfortable with an east going current clashing with the south easterly wind and believe me, he was right! I have to admit my mood was reflecting the grey sky for a while this afternoon so I had to give myself a good talking to, it didn't take much and I'm right back to feeling 100% positive again. No point in wasting a single minute of my time out here feeling miserable! I really don't have anything to complain about because even though the sun hasn't been shining we've made great (and slightly bouncy!) progress south. Oh and even when things were looking a little blue I still couldn't think of anything I'd rather be doing. I'm sure that there's not many people who can say that, so I'm a pretty lucky girl!

It's still such a long way off but I've already started counting down the miles to Cape Horn (5450 nm to go!) it gives me something to stay focused on. Can't wait to see Albatross again and to see what those huge southern ocean swells are really like!

Sounds like there is already Christmas decorations going up on land so there's another thing to look forward to!

Should be plenty more fast sailing over the next few days and plenty of lovely sea room, apart from when we pass quite close to a little island called Starbuck Island. If I wasn't doing this unassisted, I'd put in a stop for coffee!

Time to go find out something for dinner again, I'm thinking something along the lines of Spaghetti Bolognese and then maybe having a good dig in the goodies locker to see what I can find.

Jesse

South Again

We crossed back into the southern hemisphere this evening, its nice to be back home! I said a quick hi to Neptune and thanked him for the fish! Still no sign of the big red line though, I'm starting to think that all this water must have washed it away?!

More of a quiet day out here, nothing too exciting just keeping up with all the ins and outs, doing a little school work, reading and napping. Mostly we've made great progress and have had some light squalls come through. The squalls didn't give us any more than gusts of 20 knots of wind but that was just enough to make conditions just a little too wet to have the hatches open, making life pretty hot and sticky. Did I mention I'm looking forward to some cooler weather?

Plenty of open water ahead for the next few days so it will be nice to have some more uninterrupted sleep and I'm itching to put some miles behind us. Bob's latest forecast predicts south easterly winds, so looks like we'll be able to make some good progress south but none east for a while.

Hey guys, loving all the comments and support but please don't worry if I miss a blog now and then, I write when I can and love doing it, but sometimes I have to put the time and energy into something else. Just remember, I'm always in contact with the support team and chances are, if you don't hear from me, I'm just too busy sailing and having fun!

Back to Easyfoods for dinner tonight after that last of the fish for brecky, oh and yes it was really tasty!

Jesse

Finally a Fish!

Yes I'm more than a little pleased and very relieved to report that I finally got a fish! (see pic below). That was starting to get a bit silly. My best guess is that it's a yellow fin tuna, its not huge but I'm sure that there will be plenty for everyone! I can't say that there would be many fisherman who would be proud of the mess I made filleting it. I'm just glad there was no one here to witnesses the whole thing, but practice makes perfect right?!

Turns out that wasn't my last tack last night. The wind and current weren't going to make things easy for us, so it was a particularly sleepless night as we tacked and inched along ever so slowly.

Every time I thought that we'd finally cleared the Island, the wind would change slightly and we'd have to put another tack in. It's all a bit frustrating but as always it's hard not to feel cheerful when the stars are shining and the music's turned up.

I spent a lot of the day on deck enjoying the shade from the sails and trying (without much success!) to give the stainless a polish up. Also I've been noticing quite a bit chafe on the windvane lines (not to worry I've got plenty of spares) so have been playing around trying to stop some of the chafe. It's a good reminder of the way Parker is constantly working. There's always something to keep me busy, whether it's wiping the salt crystals off the solar panels, replying to an email or trying to keep up with the house work (boatwork?!) side of things.

There's been a lot of birds around again and I've really been enjoying listening to them call out to each other as they swoop low around Ella's Pink Lady. It made me think about all the other land noise that I haven't heard for so long and that made me a little home sick. But I know as soon as I do get back to land, that I'll miss the constant noise of the water along the hull and all the little creaks and groans as Ella's Pink Lady sails along.

When I checked my emails this morning I found a very serious email from my clearly worried Mum, telling me to watch out for all those 'boys' - I think they could have seen me rolling my eyes from space!

I'd love to write more but it's time for some fun in the galley and the long awaited fish and chips!

Jesse



Pic: Finally, I caught one!

Around Kiritimati Island

Winds on the nose and a current against us for the last few days has made for pretty painful progress, we're only just getting close to Kiritimati (Christmas) Island now. All going to plan we should be around and clear by the morning, it'll be a relief to have a bit of sea room and to be making progress south again.

Kiritimati Island sounds pretty interesting so I've added it to the list places to stop off at next time! Apparently it's the world's largest atoll and thanks to a few random changes in direction by the date line its also the worlds eastern most country. From what I've read it sounds pretty picture perfect with white sandy beaches and coral lagoons but don't worry I'm not too tempted to stop, in fact I'll be lucky if I can even see a distant glow of lights as I pass by tonight. Oh and its said to be a good spot for fishing!

We passed a boat (three actually!) for the first time in over a week yesterday, they were big fishing boats but didn't appear to speak English. I also got a bit of a fright yesterday, I was sitting down below at the nav station and heard the horrible nose of something rubbing down the hull, I
climbed outside in time to see a big brown buoy caught up in the windvane, luckily it freed itself before I could do anything and there wasn't any damage. I spotted a few more buoys during the day but have no idea what exactly they are and what they're doing just bobbing about out here?

Plenty of clear and starry nights lately and I've been seeing plenty of them because even thought it seems to have cooled down a little lately it's still much easier to get anything done after the sunsets. I was a little jealous to hear that everyone back home was heading out to the movies last night so I had my own movie night watching a DVD on my Toughbook and making up some
popcorn!

Still plenty of tropical sailing to go yet but I'm already thinking more and more about the south and Cape Horn.

That's going to have to be it from me because its time to go tack over again, fingers crossed this should be the last one to get us round the island!

Jesse

Northern Hemisphere

No change that I can see. The water is still blue, the waves are still rolling and the wind still blowing, but apparently now the water splashing across the deck and slipping away behind Ella's Pink Lady, is northern hemisphere water!

I couldn't have asked for a better day to cross the equator, flat seas,15knots of wind and sunshine. We crossed the line at 2017 utc doing 5 and a half knots and celebrated with the usual toast to Neptune, the traditional dunking in salt water and plenty of excited phone calls. I also had a few presents stashed away, especially to open for the occasion. They were mostly chocolate which turned out to be very melted! Neptune was toasted with fruit juice and plenty of chocolate. I'm not normally one to toss good chocolate into the sea, but I figured that this was my chance to get myself into Neptune's good books. I'd hoped that my generous offering might by rewarded with a fish on my line but no such luck!

I thought that crossing the line would be just like any other day out here, so I surprised myself a little by getting a bit emotional as I juggled three different cameras while counting down the latitude read out on the GPS. It's not so much physically crossing into the northern hemisphere that had me so worked up (you can only get so excited about an invisible line in the water!!) but the fact that it meant the end of the first leg. Sure this has probably been one of the easier legs (call it the shake down!) compared to some of the sailing down south to come. But the distance we've already covered is pretty amazing. Getting this far (and everything that happened before the start line!) has given me the confidence to know that even though we've got some seriously tough times ahead, we're going to be able to have fun tackling whatever comes our way.

Great sailing overnight again so we're well into the northern hemisphere and well on our way to Kiribati Island which we might be rounding by late tomorrow. It's been a slightly eerie feeling with overcast conditions all day but I think it was more my imagination than anything and Ella's Pink Lady has made steady progress, so I can't complain.

After all the celebrating and fun yesterday I got back into a few jobs today (not that jobs and maintenance aren't fun too!). I'm sure keeping on top of even the slightest little potential problem will pay off in the end and keeping busy keeps me more than happy.

We've finally got a bit of a moon out here this evening, I'm not sure about dinner yet but I'm thinking of attempting some kind of apple crumble with stewed fruit for dessert. A bit of ice-cream on top would go down pretty nicely too but maybe it's better not to think about that!

Thanks to everyone for all the congratulations. Sounds like plenty of people had a great time celebrating on my behalf as well! But I still say the credit all goes to Ella's Pink Lady and the amazing team that got her to the start line. I'm just along for the ride!

Jesse