10 Highlights from 7,500 Miles

To me, the past four months have seemed like one 7,451mile-long passage with a few brief intervals on some islands. In general, the daily routine, unchanging horizon, and hours of reading make passage seem like one long period- even more so in the case of these passages that we strung together. In hindsight, the days blend together and are broken by occasional sparks of excitement. Here are my ten most memorable moments since February 24:

1) On the first day, when South Georgia was just behind us, we spotted a huge fin rising out of the water every few minutes. It was at least seven feet tall and an adult male orca swam at the base of it. Occasionally the orca's head would be visible. It was a chilling sight–the huge straight fin and white circle that looked like a massive eye. It felt like South Georgia's send-off to us as it swam parallel to Sila's course.

2) A few days into the passage, we were in the midst of a Strong Gale (Force 9 wind or 41-47 knots), gusting into the 50s. Down below, it was quiet though still moving enough to make me sick. Suddenly, I felt bad in bed, an unusual occurrence. I tried to leave my cabin to get to the cockpit floor. I was too late. Afterwards, Jack said that all he could remember thinking was "GOAL" because I vomited directly into my slipper, which overflowed. Yuck. After a few days had passed, Jack and I only had to say "GOAL" to send us both into hysterics. (In the blog from March, "Smoke on the Water," Jack describes the conditions.)

The boat in some of the milder, but still rough conditions.

3) Once we were in milder conditions and I had my sea legs, I was able to watch the birds. There were always a selection of molymawks, and petrels but the real treat was the Wandering Albatross. With a ten-foot wingspan gliding over the waves, they are hard to forget. (In March, I posted a poem about this: "Always I Notice.")

I stand watching a Wandering Albatross. This picture is misleading, and the albatross appears smaller that it actually was.

4) March 2nd was a highlight for me, even though it was Jack's birthday, not mine. I particularly enjoyed it because I gave him a lot of candy that I had bought in the Falklands, and I confess that I knew I would be the primary recipient of his candy sharing. Plus, Mama and Daddy gave him Asterix books that I got to read too.

Jack's birthday cake-just ready to eat!

5) It was fantastic to be able take a sextant, get a reading and find a position within 50 miles of our actual position. I loved practicing and improving our results every time we tried to locate ourselves. Even though there was no need to learn, it is so satisfying to say that we were able to figure out our position using the methods that were used in the age of sail. (In March, I posted a blog about this called  "Celestial Hobby.")

Here I am trying to get a sight of Venus for our Venus-Jupiter nightly sight. The light is dying so we need the headlamp to read and record our sights.

6) One day we managed to get into a congregation of dolphin pods. For one hundred meters on both sides, the water was full of dolphins. They swam in the bow wake, blew within feet of us, and leapt up to twenty feet out of the water. I could see the different colorations on their sides, marking separate pods. They came in all sizes; from little small ones (What do you call a young dolphin?) to huge eight foot adults. It was one of the most incredible ocean wildlife congregations I have ever seen.  When I think of the passage, I will always think of hundreds, possibly thousands, of dolphins in one group presumably searching for this year's shoal of African sardines.(In March, Jack posted a blog called "Breach." It is about a dolphin pod we saw a few days before the congregation described above.)

Here is a casual leap. The dolphins soon started jumping as high a twenty feet off the water.

7) "Fish!" This was the shout that brought about an exciting half hour. One large wahoo made a plate of delicious sushi and a fantastic bowl of pan fried wahoo and rice. It was the first wahoo I had ever caught. It is a highlight of the entire Sila adventure, not just our 7,500 mile crossing of the Atlantic. (I described this catch in March in the blog "Yahoo Wahoo.")

Here is the wahoo.

 The wahoo sits at the bottom of the cockpit as Daddy gets ready to fillet it.

I am enjoy the wahoo not thirty minutes out of the water with nothing but soy sauce.

8)Recrossing the equator was not particularly exciting, except that it was a reason to celebrate. At the time, we were motoring and it was hot- never a great combination- so it was exciting only in comparison to the time around it. Mama gave us Angry Bird Gummys, which were a real treat because they were delicious and unexpected. In addition, crossing the equator then meant we effectively skipped winter as we went instantly from fall to spring.

The equator is a hundredth of a mile away.

9) Usually, we sail as fast as we can on passage. An exception to that is when a storm with Force 11 winds, Violent Storm or 56-63 knots of wind, and thirty foot waves is predicted.  We never have and never want to be in weather that dramatic. In order to allow the storm to pass ahead of us, we had to creep along at two knots when we could have gone seven. At the end of our slow sail, we finally hove to. Heaving to is setting the sails and rudder in such a way that you only drift down to leeward very slowly. It was the first time we had ever done it on Sila and was, while unexciting at the time, cool to remember.

10) There is little as satisfying as seeing a green-grey smudge sitting on the horizon when you come on deck toward the end of a passage. It is even more exciting when it means the end of the continuous passage, crossing the Atlantic the wrong way. It is also fun to step into a small room ashore and feel it roll under your feet or give an occasional pitch. It is hard to believe that we are here, on the Emerald Isle. It is the place we have been thinking of for the last three months of offshore sailing and now, we sit calmly in an Irish marina. (See "Isn't this, like, the long way to cross the Atlantic," which Daddy posted a few days ago.) - Porter