Our next port is 3,000 nautical miles away, which seems like too long (to me at least). It should take about 25-30 days to reach French Polynesia, and I expect that eventually we will get into a routine. We hope to leave next week, once our friend Oliver has arrived and we finish all the projects on our lists. Getting ready to cross an ocean takes a lot of preparation.
We have a list of projects to prepare the boat. A few of these are inspecting and tensioning the rig, setting up and testing the sea anchor, and making new fair leads for the jib sheets. We will also hire a diver to clean the bottom of the boat before we leave.
In the beginning, we may get pretty sea sick, so my mom will prepare a few meals just before we leave. This way she, she doesn’t need to go down below and cook if she is feeling sea sick.
Another aspect of the preparation, is planning. We have been watching the weather every day to see when we can leave. There is a calm spot with little to no wind in the Pacific. This calm spot is called the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (I.T.C.Z.). We are watching the I.T.C.Z. to see when it will be the smallest. The other thing that we are planning is the paper work. We need papers to leave Mexico and to arrive in French Polynesia.
The aspect of preparation that I am most exited for is provisioning and supplying. We will stock up on food (from mangoes to garbanzo beans) and water. We will also get diesel for our engine, and propane for our stove. We have started (and will continue) buying a few miscellaneous things that won’t be available in the Marquesas and Tuamotus, like clothes, clothes pins, and Nerf balls to stuff in our hawse pipes around our anchor chain to keep water out.
The last aspect of preparing (that I am going to talk about) is preparing the crew. I’m kind of scared about being at sea for about a month. The thing that helped me the most, was looking at the digital charts, and seeing how short 3,000 miles looked on the computer screen. Before that, I had been trying to ignore the fact that we are about to cross. Preparing the crew also means taking our last real showers for a long time.
Although I know what the preparations are like, I don’t know what the actual passage will be like. Maybe 3,000 miles won’t seem too long after all.
Hear are a few more recent photos:
WOW! Now is the real nitty gritty. All the preparation and planning are on the line now. I thank you Alma for your report on all the preparations and for the drawings from you and Arlo. Cool stuff!
I wish you all fair winds and following seas and a safe crossing of the equator. I will be waiting for the next post with keen anticipation. I have an intuition that this passage will go smoothly for you and that you will thrive and find new awakenings.
I follow you vicariously. I have always wanted to make this passage.
Love to all,
Rick
Thank you for your kind, words Rick. Like Alma, we are all a little nervous, but we are also anticipating that we will find much to appreciate. I like the idea of awakenings.
Love, Caitlin
Hey Rick! Jason here. Thanks for your support compadre. We can always count on you for that. This next passage is sooooo big. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. I expect it will require some different ways of thinking and living and being. I’m really looking forward to doing it with this good boat and this great crew. Ill look forward to catching up with you about all the details. Love to you and Nancy.
Incredible adventure and wonderful photos. Thinking of you guys and the epic adventure. Inspiring.
I have always thought that the truly hard part of jumping off a high dive is the stepping off itself; once you do that you’re going to get wet, it can’t be helped. Your post, Alma, is a little like that: the hard part is the prep, once you’re off, well, you’re kind of committed. Yeah, you *could* bail on the journey, I suppose, but with the kind of preparation you’re undertaking I doubt you will have reason to. I don’t know that this is exactly a correct or common wish, but it’s heartfelt: strong winds and fair seas to all of you. We follow your journey excitedly, wish you the best of the best, and love you all.
Thank you for making time to post your personal take on the details involved on your major adventure. Know that You often rise to the surface of my reflections on the worthwhile activities going on in the world.
Lots of souls are with you.
This is so wonderful to get to watch from here. I love all of the sketches and thoughtfulness in the blog posts. Such a rich experience!
You all are truly living life! Thank you Alma for the wonderful post and the sketches from you and Arlo are great! Best wishes for a safe voyage!
Thank you so much Tammy! That’s so nice. We miss coming to the farm
You all are truly living life! Thank you Alma for the wonderful post and the sketches from you and Arlo are great! Best wishes for a safe voyage! …oh and lots of double bananas!!!
That last comment was from Alma
This is all so exciting. Thanks so much for the updates and all the wonderful details. Your artwork is great! I hope the crossing is fun, exciting, and very safe. I’ll be looking forward to hearing all about it!
Love,
Lou Anne
What an exciting step- it’s like connecting to history to travel in that way! Have an amazing time exploring and discovering something new. Fair winds!
Goodbyeeeeee! Be sure to write as, where, and when possible. Don’t come back until you’ve wrung it out of your systems!
(OtherAlma update: the uprig has started. Blocks went aloft last week, yesterday Josh P was in the fore shrouds giving them an acid warsh, this week or next the spars will probably move from the horses on the pier back to the boat, and it looks like we’ll be more than ready for YetAnotherMasterMariners.)
Hugs and smoochies all around as appropriate.
Good sailing, friends! Wishing you favorable winds and not too much seasickness.
Kira
Thanks Kira!
From Alma
Very well written, Alma. You have managed to convey a very clear sense of this huge undertaking and your personal feelings about it simultaneously.
Brava!
I’m so jealous of the experience you are all on. My mind goes back 30 years to when I first dreamed of sailing an ocean, but then chose to sit behind a desk. You all are living my, and I’m sure others’, lifetime dreams of freedom and adventure. I’ve enjoyed every post, and I’m living vicariously through your eyes and (perhaps even more enjoyably) those of the kids. What an adventure! You should be proud and excited about what you’ve already done, and all that is ahead of you. Be safe and have fun.
XXOO
Mo (aka Bryan)
Ah! Mo! Jason here. So good to hear from you buddy. We’re getting close to leaping off. It’s exciting and intimidating at the same time. This trip has gotten us into conversations with a lot of people about life and dreams and adventurers . We’ve enjoyed that. There are infinite paths. Infinite adventures and ways of doing it. Take care of you and yours. I’ll hope to catch up with you down the road.
Have fun, you guys! The ocean is awesome! And my goodness, does Alma look like her mother!
Wonderful update! Safe journey ahead!
That was from Alma.
Hello all! I see you are preparing for your trek to French Polynesia! Looks like you are doing the best job ever and covered every possible senario! You are going to enjoy your next adventure with so many knew experiences to write about! I can’t imsgibe the sea creature you will meet! Looking forward to hearing all about it when you arrive in the Marqueases (sp)! Love to all!
Wow Alma thanks for the cool update. It sounds amazing and daunting at the same time. I think I would just focus on getting to French Polynesia b/c that sounds beautiful. We will look forward to how a whole month of the boat goes. I sure hope the sea sick part is short for your mom and all of you. There are some great acupuncture bans that can help with sea sickness. I am the worst on a boat, LOL
What an amazing experience I am not sure I would ever want to come back to my regular life and house.
xoox Nancy
CJAA
You all are going to enjoy this amazing journey across the Pacific Pond!! We are so very pleased that your skills are honed perfectly for your passage. Perhaps more double bananas in French Polynesia?
Keep on sketching A&A, you are pretty darned good artists!!
We loved your blog on small spaces and food adventures! I meant to ask, was your Bonita tasty? You can mwver sent too many photos of your life on Denonair! And look forward to
More after you arrive after sailing 3000 miles!!
The blog on sea vegetables, creatures and birds Alma, we haveshared with all our friends! They are, as we, very much in awe of your sail!! Wonderful,is how we describe all of your words and thoughts
You ALL share with us!! Thank you, and we travel with you through your neat photos as well!!
Have a wonderous time and blog us when you arrive in FP
Steady winds and calmer tummies as you whisk( or not) across the journey of your dreams.
Love forever, JE pearl and cooper
CJAA
You all are going to enjoy this amazing journey across the Pacific Pond!! We are so very pleased that your skills are honed perfectly for your passage. Perhaps more double bananas in French Polynesia?
Keep on sketching A&A, you are pretty darned good artists!!
We loved your blog on small spaces and food adventures! I meant to ask, was your Bonita tasty? You can mwver sent too many photos of your life on Denonair! And look forward to
More after you arrive after sailing 3000 miles!!
The blog on sea vegetables, creatures and birds Alma, we haveshared with all our friends! They are, as we, very much in awe of your sail!! Wonderful,is how we describe all of your words and thoughts
You ALL share with us!! Thank you, and we travel with you through your neat photos as well!!
Have a wonderous time and blog us when you arrive in FP
Steady winds and calmer tummies as you whisk( or not) across the journey of your dreams.
Love forever, JE pearl and cooper
I am Che king in on your position and see you are on your way! I can hardly wait to hear how your trek across the beautiful Pacific Ocean went and will think of you all with love and great expectations! Love to all
I am Che king in on your position and see you are on your way! I can hardly wait to hear how your trek across the beautiful Pacific Ocean went and will think of you all with love and great expectations! Love to all