The Heniges Log Blog

Pacific Days 11 and 12

Day 11: Spirits are improving. While the sun is still scorching hot near the equator, we’ve figured out some strategies that are helping.

In no particular order:

*It seems a little ironic to be adding salt to water that was just desalinated, but hey, that’s how it works.

Speaking of flying fish—they are everywhere all the time. I expected to see them in the ocean, but not to this abundance. It’s like a little circus of fish flying across the waves. Some of them are large enough I thought they were birds at first and other smaller species I assumed were dragonflies, but no — they are indeed fish. This is made abundantly clear when one hits the deck of the sailboat with a surprisingly loud thud. Happens not infrequently.

I’m convinced the squid out here must also fly as we’ve found numerous ones scattered along the boat deck.

The great mystery to me, however, is how one squid must have flown over the side of the boat, under the large sunshade, through the stairway opening below deck to the small wooden shelf were we store our headlamps. The shelf opening is only like 2x4 inches and yet somehow, after painstakingly chasing down that “fishier than usual smell” I found it wedged underneath the pile of headlamps (that get put back in the dark as we trade shifts). I may have screamed, akin to finding an unexpected spider. Chelsea came to my rescue and removed it.

The box in question on the left
Fresh squid, self-delivered overnight

In other news, the repurposed end of our kitchen wooden spoon fell overboard after a week of dutiful hard labor locking the pole we use to keep our Genoa from collapsing in light wind (that’s the front sail for you non-sailing folks out there). We had a moment of silence as we watched it bob away on the waves.

Ever since that moment Jesse has been eying our remaining wooden utensils suspiciously and I fully expect to wake up missing the handle of yet another kitchen implement tomorrow.

Day 12 we tried out the new 3 hour watch schedule and I think we all might be a little more sane after the switch. However we’re also the only ones out here to judge our sanity so who can really say.

We had to run the motor for an hour today to top off our batteries, which goes against Captain Jesse’s sailing pride, but had to be done. We’ll have to find a way to spread out our motoring over the remaining journey, being down on our solar energy capability at the moment, otherwise my phone usage (and blogging) might get rationed further for power purposes. Apparently things like radar and water desalination take precedence…priorities, what can I say?

Don’t tell Chelsea or Jesse that I admitted it, but I might, just might have overpacked on food. There is still no room in the fridge and the cupboards are all still packed to the gills.

Luckily the chances of them reading this blog are slim as they use our rationed time with the power guzzling WiFi turned on to do minor things like track the weather, check the radar, and route plan while I sneak on Instagram to do the important work of updating photos, posting on the blog, and reassuring family and friends that we are, in fact, still alive. What can I say, I’m a helpful crew member.

But rest assured family and friends, I made sure we won’t starve out here in the ocean.

PS if someone with access to unlimited WiFi and the World Wide Web could let me know if flying squid are really a thing or if it’s really just waves launching them unintentionally out of the water onto our boat, that would be very much appreciated. Thank you in advance!

Comments

  1. Andy
    Thank you Sarah, for keeping me sane and entertained! Great blog! Though I get a little seasick just reading it! And you'll be happy to know that flying squid are a real thing! Several species of squid can glide above the water, the most famous of which is the japanese flying squid! They actually suck in water and blast it out like a jet engine, which launches them out of the ocean. And they actually spread their fins and arms like wings. Hope that little tidbit gets you through a few hours of awake time! Big hugs to all!
  2. Sarah
    Thanks Andy! That’s wild learning about the flying squid!
  3. Sierra
    You know I think the overstocking of food had a secondary benefit which was making all of us on land feel slightly less worried for you all so it served a dual purpose!! I hope you catch a flying squid in the act of sneaking aboard next time!

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