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having school. It is difficult to write underway, so we have curtailed some of the writing exercises.
I thought I would have more time to do things. But, I find the days go by fairly quickly.
This is our flow:
0600 Martin and Emily are awakened by Lou to take their watch. They see what kind of wildlife
has landed on our decks (flying fish and squid). We talk about making a stew, but no one is
primed for that yet. They usually play Gameboy, talk, play some kind of game or read while they
are on watch together.
0800 I get up. Make recommendations for breakfast. Give everyone their vitamins. Try and keep
the kids quiet while Lou sleeps a little bit more. I put out our hand line and make a request for a
medium sized fish. Please no more baby mahi-mahis and no 100 pound tunas like others in our
fleet have landed.
0900 I start my watch. We have school. I ask Martin to change his boxer shorts. He does, but I
see that he puts the dirty ones not in the laundry—oh no—but he has returned them to his
drawer. He is concerned that he won’t have enough boxer shorts to complete the passage. I
remind him that we will do laundry underway. He reluctantly goes along although he lets me know
he is not happy about this. He had a goal of wearing the same boxer shorts throughout the entire
passage! (I know that his grandfather and great-uncle are rallying for his cause in these boxer
conflicts).
1100 Lou’s turn on watch. Lou usually checks all the rigging. We have been on one tack the
whole trip and probably will mainly be on this tack—so things do start to wear. School continues.
We have checked e-mails by now and share the news from family and friends. Emily gets on the
computer and writes an e-mail or two. We have some mint tea (cold). And have something simple
for lunch—soup or sandwiches. And I start making dinner preparations. Martin decides he needs
some exercise. He has procured the top of a plastic box and uses it to practice his
skateboard/surfing moves. With the boat’s motion, he gets some pretty good practice. But, then
we start to worry about the wood floor and well, Martin usually gets asked to stop.
1400 Martin and Emily come on watch. We report in to the fleet on the single sideband. We are
with a bunch of catamarans, but Ace is holding her ground with most of them. Lou and I take
naps at some point. Not in parallel. Sharing a bunk out on the rolling sea could lead to marital
discord.
1630 Emily runs the kids net with little parental supervision. (She does a great job of not getting
too upset when Lou and I start micromanaging). The kids net runs about 45 minutes. They have
a variety of topics including books they’ve enjoyed, what’s for lunch or dinner (or since we are with
some Brits—tea!). Martin is in charge of the joke/riddle category.
1700 My turn on watch again. We sit down and have a meal together. Some evenings it has
been pure heaven! We listen to music and just talk. One night Lou said it was the favorite part of
the trip thus far. How can I describe being 700 miles away from land in this tiny ship speeding
along at 8 knots or so with your family. You feel small, you feel vulnerable but you also feel like a
part of something huge. And I feel so in love with my family. Martin starts talking to me about
getting a little bit more independence. He has decided that he likes being by himself. Once we
get to French Polynesia, he would like some independence to just wander around on the beach.
We talk a bit about it and I tell him he can have independence but that I need to be able to see
him. He has really been working on identifying his issues and communicating them.
2000 Emily, Martin and I go to bed. It’s Lou’s watch. He usually does the days dishes. And writes
e-mails and reads.
0000 My turn again! I get up and make some hot Spiced cider and sip that while I read and look
for traffic.
0400 Lou’s turn.
We did catch a 30 pound mahi-mahi. Just the right size! That should make a bunch of meals
before it spoils.
What we are reading:
Lou - Kim by Rudyard Kipling: Saint Jack by Paul Theroux
Mary - A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry: Moon Publications South Pacific Handbook
Emily – Warriors Into the Wild by Erin Hunter
Martin - Read one book in a 24 hour period! Starseeker by Tim Bowler
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