June 24, 2010

Detox - Day 14

LOL. Day 14 of no happy hour gin and tonics .....no red wine.....no coffee....no internet.....hmmmmmm I wonder if this has anything to do with how good I feel? I hope not :-).

Today the seas were.....hmmm what is bigger than gigantic and monstrous??? HUMONGOUS!!! Seriously. It was enough to make you want to run for cover. It continues to shock us all that Artemo just rides up and down, no matter what side she is hit on. We had to change our course today though so that the seas were pushing behind us. It was just to dangerous to have them coming at us on our side and really uncomfortable.

I was sitting in the cockpit facing backwards watching in awe as the waves form behind us and coming charging at us and then whoooshhh us down. On one of the waves I noticed something in the water and then all of a sudden the waves were filled with them...."Dolphins"! It was mind blowing. To see the dolphins just beneath the surface torpedo'ing down the wave towards Artemo was WAY COOL. They all swam in sync. I got the most amazing pic of it and the cool thing is that finally since the dolphins are in the water it gives the wave some perspective and you might be able to get an idea of how huge they really were from this picture. For the next 1/2 hour we watched as the dolphins performed their show for us. They were jumping and diving all over the place. Imagine Amelia yelling, "Oh My God" over and over again......I have created a monster. Ha. Alex was yelling at his Dad because he went back down below to tend to his cooking. He couldn't believe he could leave during such an event. Given the size of the seas we were all tethered in. The size of the waves finally got to Amelia though and she said she was to nervous to stay up on deck anymore. I couldn't blame her, I was wishing I didn't have to either!

Finally at about 8pm tonight the seas have become more calm. I am so grateful for the calm. It looks like we should only have about 6 more days out here if our speed continues as it has. I might need to slow us down so the kids can finish their home schooling.

Yesterday Amelia was the SSB net controller for the Pacific Crossing net. The net is a SSB radio station that vessels crossing the Pacific tune into and give their position and just let everyone know how they are doing. It is very structured. Everyone takes their turn talking and the net controller orchestrates everything. She practiced the day before with the script and the morning of she got on the radio and did beautifully. She sounded like an old pro...."Any underway vessels for the Pacific Puddle Jump net wanting to check in, come now"...."Roger That"...."I have your position at 7 45 S and 112 35W...is this correct" "next check in come now"....She was really good. We took a video of it. It was alot of fun. Our days are Tuesday and Saturday and we do it twice a day. There are about 7 other boats crossing right now. Alex says he wants to do Saturday's net.

Ok, my shift is over time for bed. Here is the link to our position reports so that it opens in a big window.

http://www.winlink.org/dotnet/maps/PositionreportsDetail.aspx?callsign=va3pry

6 comments:

  1. The Acreage - Fort MacleodJune 24, 2010 at 5:19 AM

    Amelia - I can just hear you being the old pro. Great work. Well, almost done this stage - we can see your position, where you have come from and where you are going on the same screen so it puts it into perspective. Not long - or far
    L
    Dad and Cheryl

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  2. I can't wait to see the pictures..Amazing..Not long to go now. take care
    Mom

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  3. Wow 6 days isnt long considering you have just come 14. Imagine how good you will feel once you reach french poly. What an accomplishment! How long will you be there for have you decided? Where are you off to next? I cant wait to see the pictures and the video of Millie. What a great experience for her and for Alex as well.

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  4. Whoops forgot to leave my name that last comment was me.

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  5. crazy, Amelia is a salty old sailor before she's even a teenager,
    I can't wait to see the dolphin/wave pic!

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  6. I can believe that you would be in awe of those big waves but I mean it would scare the h e double toothpicks out of me. To me it would be a lot nicer to just look at some cow in the pasture with my feet on the ground. I am still in awe at what nature is doing. We can have our scary moments watching nature and water in the south of Alberta and Sask. Take care and keep riding the waves.
    Earl

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