Arising early to check on the wind, I startled the gull stow away and he flew west, glad for the rest and to see his surroundings enough to leave. We had breakfast and coffee and got to work before the sun gained much heat. A project of rinsing, cleaning and painting the anchor chain has begun. How fun.
Halfway through the morning the wind again vanished. Trying the motor was successful but cooling it was still questionable. We jumped in the drink once more to play and cool down, marvel at our solitude and the clear colour of the placid Pacific.
Brain wanted to conduct an experiment on the motor and try to cool it down another way. We began a bucket brigade to feed the motor cool ocean water and bypass its usual tap into the ocean. Before firing it up again we rinsed our sweaty selves with the salty sea. We planned to motor until we had wind enough to fill the sails. After Brian’s experiment, however, no water was being fed through and produced by the motor on its own. An overheated motor could seize and overheated humans were getting frustrated at the lack of forward momentum.
As I learned in the stress of college assignments, a siesta usually alleviates stress, so Brian took one under the newly fixed and assembled, stronger fan, while mine was in the shade of the cruising bimini, a cover offering sun relief to the cockpit. After the snooze, Brian troubleshot the motor while I spray painted rust protector on the anchor chain.
As the sun star sank to our horizon, promising new beginnings elsewhere, west glowed pinks and purples, the soft shades of light dancing on the blue surface of ocean, manipulated by a whisper of air. Behind us, the horizon’s haze made the distinction between sea and sky hard to find. The eastern grey blue atmosphere powdered the water’s surface a pastel aquamarine with dustings of pink from the west on the crests of ripples. It was a 360 degree colour palette playing and overtaking, conceding and circulating. Birds fought for mast space to enjoy the celestial show.
@3:30pm
15° 30’ N
108° 05’ W
~1/2 – 3 knots / hour
traveled 35 nm
Breakfast: Banana Bread, fruit, cereal
Lunch: Mango Guacamole, leftover pasta
Dinner: Bean, pineapple and vegetable fajitas
Green in the Blue 