Go Big Blue!

Days 2 & 3 at sea have brought on many firsts. This morning was our first time raising the Cruising Code Zero sail at sea. The winds have been light and fluky westerlies between 6-13 kts, so sailing with our full main and jib on a beam reach our boat speed dropped to a dismal 3.6 kts over night. So this morning we raised Big Blue, our new nickname for the CCZ - after the color and because we already know many jubilant cheers of that theme from our days at Cal. Since then we’ve been cruising at a very comfortable, very stable, 5.5-6 kts ever since. It’s also the first time we are completely clear of Mexico and headed directly for the Marquesas; the first (and hopefully only) time we passed our point of previous return; the first time Dominic has seen an aircraft carrier underway; and the first time we radioed a cargo ship and asked them to please divert their course 4 degrees to starboard to keep a safer passing distance.

We had our first burial at sea, a murre or storm petrel had collided with our rigging in the night and was unable to be revived. In the morning we ceremoniously committed his body back to the sea.

The easy living conditions have also brought more mundane firsts. My first chores, mending two sets of torn shorts, cleaning a spray of mold growing behind the shower. Our first showers underway! Dominic braved the cold water temperature in the cockpit. I made use of our solar camping shower and enhanced the water with lavender oil. We’ve had our first days of balmy warmth; our first overcast and partly cloudy skies, which, according to Dominic, have brought our first perfectly pancake shaped clouds.