Where's the MacDonalds?

Today marks 2 weeks on the boat and our half-way point. We are going to celebrate by using the last of the meat on the boat and try to make hamburgers.

Sleeping With the Fishes

We have been rolling in 7 foot seas for the past couple of days which is exhausting and makes sleep difficult. It has also been overcast which makes everything damp and salty. Capt. Joel has been updating the YotReps site so you can track our progress. Soon we will be southing towards the inter tropical convergence zone/doldrums/equator. We check the weather reports each day in hopes to pass this area using as little fuel as possible. Another boat on the "puddle jump" got stuck with only 5 gallons of diesel and floated around the ITCZ for a week. We are about 1500 miles from any form of land, the gravity of this recently struck me and I am careful when doing anything at all; to injure myself would be complete disaster. Interestingly, swarms of flying fish accompany the boat at all hours of the day to the extent that we find a dozen or so dead on the deck each morning-- one even came through the hatch above my berth and must have flopped around next to me as I slept. They are like little aquatic hummingbirds.

Finding My Sea Legs

April 10, Day 8
Hello, all is well on the boat. Books, cooking, sleeping and sailing are keeping me well occupied. 28ish more days does seem a bit daunting I will admit. The contents of the previous posting are no longer indicative of my current condition, I have my sea legs and am quite happy.
--Rob

UPDATE from the Captain

April 9
S/V Alobar is progressing nicely on the voyage to Polynesia. We are now in the trade wind area and moving well at around 6 knots. Have traveled about 730 miles since leaving Puerto Vallarta and are settled into the routine. There are two daily radio nets for boats making the crossing so I get to hear how everyone is doing. Not sure exactly how many boats are involved in this year’s "Puddle Jump" but believe it will be well over 50. A number of boats have arrived and are reporting good anchoring conditions in Hiva Oh and Nuka Hiva. Several boats are well behind us having left only the last day or two. We expect to reach our way point near the Inter-tropical Convergence Zone at about 6N, 132W in about 10 days at present speed. At that point we will be more than 3/4 of the way to our first Island.
--Captain Joel

Dramamine Dreams

April 7, Day 5
"Relay Via Sail Mail: I am awake but largely unable to delineate reality from my Dramamine dreams. The sort of state one finds sitting erect and alone in a foreign airport-- not realizing you had succumb to sleep but suddenly awakened and embarrassed by, of all things, the lucidity of your dream. I am consistently on the verge of sea-sickness for which I take 2 pills daily. These pills make me drowsy. I have not had a cigarette in 7 days after 12 years. Nor have I had a drink after a marathon Bukowski re-enactment. I have not showered, have slathered sunscreen over my sunburn, balm on my burned lips, sun glasses over my salted eyes. My sleep is truncated by night-watch from 2am - 5am. My exhaustion off-set only by my daytime naps required no less by the constant struggle to maintain one's physical equilibrium (even in sleep) against an ever persistent, unwieldy, pendulum I call the ground on which I float. Yet at no point before my sitting down to write this reflection was I aware of any of this. I am aware only of the ocean."
Love - Rob

The Big Blue

April 5
The sea has been very calm with 12 second intervals between rolling waves. It is chilly at night and high 70's during the day. We are about 50 miles south of Socorro island. Lots of lounging in this mild weather; I've finished Green's The Power and the Glory and sleep half the day. I don't have any revelations to share except to say that everything you've heard about the ocean holds true: the blue is surreal, the vastness is sublime, we are very small.

And the Journey Begins

April 3rd
This will be our first full day at sea. We departed yesterday around 2pm. The ocean has been calm (1 to 2 foot seas) and we are making an average of 4 knots under sail and under motor at night (100 miles a day). Dramamine is working but makes me drowsy thankfully my night watch went smoothly. Will take a little time to get used to constant movement although this has not affected my sleep. Learning 10 new things everyday and hope to be a self-sufficient sailor soon.