Pacific Crossing Day 12: Our New Normal

Another full night of sailing is under our belts- that’s over 24hrs with no engine now. We used the main and jib overnight but switched to the gennaker at first light, making SOG 7.5-8kn. The sea state is significantly less bouncy than yesterday but is by no means smooth. Still, it was a beautiful morning! 

Ray decided to saw into our saloon furniture to quiet a squeak. On our boat, most of the noises come from the furniture rubbing up against itself while we’re moving. We typically cut up those thin, flexible plastic cutting boards and wedge pieces between the problem areas, but today, Ray took a different approach: sawing a bit off to create a space.

He successfully shut it up, and with the cushions in place, you can’t even tell a saw was involved. I spent the afternoon thumbing through the “French for Cruisers” book we have on board, summoning my three years of high school French class knowledge before we arrive in French Polynesia. 

The days are starting to blend together as this becomes our new normal. We messed around with the gennaker configuration to minimize the flogging as the wind spills out of the sail in response to the boat’s motion in this sea state. We tried to fly it off the windward bow but ultimately brought it back onto the bowsprit and trimmed it well, which seemed to do the trick. We continued sailing with our main and gennaker for the rest of the day, listening to music over the speakers. 

I made some sourdough tortillas, and we had beef and veggie tacos for dinner together in the cockpit. Ray and I both just got a whiff of something fishy and are now on the lookout for a smelly whale blowing nearby. We still have the main and gennaker up and are discussing leaving it overnight since the weather has seemingly settled, and we are capable of furling it in quickly if needed… That’s a bit out of our comfort zone though, so we’ll see!