Well, well, well! Here we are again, another day in paradise! The sun is shining and this morning we spotted a manta ray! The last week or so has been incredible and we’ve gone from no wind, to plenty, back to very little again. A week ago we were becalmed. We were monitoring our speed compared to the turtles and jellyfish that bobbed by. If we were going faster than they were, we were happy 
Ironically, Nick W lost his glasses overboard on one such becalmed night. He’d had them through all the storms and squalls of the Southern Ocean and North Pacific, and then ‘plop’, over they go in 3kts of wind! Oh dear! Lucky he has spares! Maintaining concentration in those light wind conditions has been tough – in the heat of the day one’s brain seems to fry, and then at night the effects of heat induced sleep deprivation start taking their toll! I save coffee as a sort of “emergency only” rocket fuel and I’ve had to resort to coffee on the night watches! In addition to coffee, we’ve taken to having rather interesting night time conversations to keep us going. Questions arise like, “How does one make a rice crispy?” “How do squid end up on deck?” “Why are all the turtles swimming the same way?” “Are the twinklier ones satellites or stars about to supernova?” “What does SPAM (food) stand for and why do we also call junk mail spam?” All good food for thought I think you’ll agree! Most answers have come courtesy of patient family members – thank you! – but it is quite nice thinking about things and not having the answers straight away. It is also interesting to hear some of the different theories that come out of such discussions! Very interesting!
The winds picked up around the time we commemorated ANZAC day, 25th April. Wayne explained the history and significance of the day and then played quite a moving song and recited the Ode. I’d had no idea what ANZAC day was all about and really appreciated it. Dan’s homemade ANZAC cookies were also a very welcome treat. As the winds picked up, helming practice resumed for all watch members and we made a start on some of the easy maintenance jobs. The jobs list fort Panama is short but since none of us are really sure what to expect from this pseudo stopover, we thought we’d better get as much done as we can before we get there. I am quite excited about Panama. I want to make sure I get up the mast while we cross so that I might be able to look out upon both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans at the same time. I’ve also heard that there is a link to see live video footage of vessels crossing – hope my family get the chance to watch! As our boat speed increased, so did the velocity of the wildlife we saw: we’ve had regular dolphin or whale visits, but one morning we saw a gigantic feeding frenzy! There were flying fish being chased by tuna, chased by kingfish, chased by dolphins, chased by sharks! It was utterly insane! We were ALL squealing away with glee! The water was white with activity and we were rocketing right through it all! At night the dolphins and the whales stir up the phosphorescent algae in the water and glow so that they look like sparking comets rushing all around us and near our bow. I only wish I could somehow take a film or photo of this phenomenon – it is utterly beautiful in the black water with the stars all above. Their breaths alongside us are a now familiar and welcome sound. We’ve even had visitors of the avian variety. In addition the the regular sea birds, we once a tiny blue, yellow chested finch came to rest on our deck (and down below!), and another time, another land bird, a green one not too dissimilar to a humming bird in shape and size stopped by.
Anyhow, we are now back to light wind sailing; the finish line has currently been brought forward to the “Remedios Gate” coming off Punta Remedios Light in El Salvador. We are in first place and the concentration is back to try to maintain our lead over De Lage Landen. We are out of teabags so everyone is on the coffee at night now, and during the day, we’ve taken to having a bucket of water on deck to stop the burning in the soles of our feet detracting from our sail trim! We were going loco down in Acapulco, but now we are in Guatemalan waters we are just feelin’ hot, hot, hot! x
p.s. the photo is a boobie hitching a ride on a turtle
That is a song I learnt in primary school that popped into my head today as I was helming away. It is funny how our heads do that sometimes. And funnier still that here I am, in the Caribbean Sea! Who would have thought?!
(On a side note, the increased number of girls has raised the issue of running out of toilet paper before we get to Panama – Oh Dear! We must be frugal!) Personally, my biggest area of development has been with the tactical decision making and today our dear old friend Pythagoras re-appeared into my life. Weather forecasts for areas of current and future wind, notes on both favourable and unfavourable currents, boat speed at different points of sail, distances to waypoints, etc. all form part of our decision making arsenal but today, our decision was based on good old SOHCAHTOA! Thank goodness we bought a new scientific calculator in Oakland! So far, our tactics look like they are paying off, and we are having a really really good time. What more could I possibly wish for? 
