23 May 15 - On passage - Day 7 - Headwinds

Hello,

A short note tonight because it is getting lumpy. Winds are only 15-20, but they are on the nose, which is not really comfortable.

We had a fun afternoon - Benjamin missed shower day yesterday, so we gave him a bath in one of our blue tubs in the cockpit. He sat, leaning against the side of the tub because the boat was heeling, and played with his stacking cups for ages. It was lovely, warm, and sunny, so it was a nice way to break up the afternoon (and to combat the heat rash which is already beginning to develop on his neck & back).

Jesus is such a delight to have on board - he and Johnathan played an iPod version of "Risk" for a good part of the afternoon (with great shouts of laughter and disgust errupting from them as they each tried to take over the other's part of the world), he cooked dinner (curried chicken that I canned in NZ), and kept Benjamin safe while I had a quick after-dinner pre-watch nap.

It is pretty easy to get out of synch with our sleeping - I had a later than normal night watch last night because I woke Max to haul up the main in the middle of his off-watch, then I had a later sleep-in this morning which meant no need for the usual afternoon nap. Meanwhile, Max was on watch from about 0300 until well into the morning, which meant that he needed a longer sleep during the day ... all to say that we pay close attention to crew fatigue and adjust accordingly so that we are each getting the sleep we need, even if it means that not every day looks like the one before. Many boats (but probably few cruising couples) have more rigid schedules, but our flexible approach is working for us.

My thoughts about the sea are not as poetic tonight as they have been (it is no longer molten glass that we are gliding through) ... but still, the sky (mostly clear, with the odd heavy cloud) looks down on us, and the stars are completely unperturbed by any trials below. It is a good reminder, I think!

With that, I will sign off and wish you a good evening (morning)!

Love to all,
Elizabeth
-----
At 5/23/2015 9:48 AM (utc) SV Fluenta was 24°42.00'S 179°48.00'W

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com