June 12, 2010

Teeter Totter

I was going to start this blog with how many miles we have gone and how many to go but I am to tired to get up and figure it out! ha. So instead I will start with ......Here we are on the South Pacific ocean somewhere....

Life right now on board is like living in the middle of a teeter totter with a couple of crazy kids at either end changing the rhythm and pattern. Just when you think you are compensating just right.....leaning to left and then to right....you will get a left, left and it will throw you around the boat. Stuff down below regularly gets catapulted across the room. You start believing in the rhythm and thinking you can predict but really you can't. This is the life of downwind sailing. Remarkably thought we do still manage to go about our lives, we just move a bit slower and only when necessary.

As with any point of sail and any weather on Artemo we are all always hungry. Crazy eh? I have heard of many sailors who get sea sick and eat only crackers and other sailors who only eat easy meals like sandwiches, tuna, beans, etc....not us. We all crave yummy new flavors and foods. We have been moving through our "Best of Bridge" cookbook (thank you Judith!). Man I love this book. Yesterday we had curried apple and sweet potato pilaf and today broccoli mandarin red onion salad from it. We have a ton of fresh veggies to eat up and we are determined to cook them in new and unique ways. So far so good! We are going to arrive in Marquesas not quite as lean as when we left.

The kids are doing great. No fish yet for Alex but he is determined. I am so grateful for this time with him. It is hard to believe that there are still stories we can tell each other that we haven't heard before. We have lots of time to talk. He stayed up on watch with me last night and we laid in the cockpit and star gazed together. Since it is new moon right now the sky is dark and filled with stars. I saw the coolest shooting star. Alex was mentioning today how surprise he was at how easy it was to fill his days. We discussed the fact that right now it is kind of like a sick day back home. Where you don't feel that bad but you get to lay around, eat, read, and watch TV. I am making them do at least one assignment a day for home schooling. It is hard right now but they are still managing and once we get even more use to the rolling it will get easier.

Amelia is always smiling. She has discovered her love of reading. She has read the entire twilight series and is into a new series called Lightening Thief. I LOVE that she is choosing reading over dvds. She keeps coming up and saying, "My book is getting soooo good." She chats on the radio with the Gromit girls regularly. They discuss all the goings on, on each boat and parts of their books. I enjoy listening in. Liam chats with Alex a couple of times a day to. He is such a cute kid. We all get a kick out of him. I wish I could record the conversations because they are classic.

Graham is in his element. I am so so proud of him. He has dreamt of the South Pacific for so long. No challenge seems to big for this guy. He takes everything in stride....except for my moods :-). We are both struggling a bit with the lack of a good night sleep. We are taking shifts of about 4 to 5 hours but it still feels like we never quite get enough. I feel like when you wake up super early to go to the airport. Kind of yucky but if you keep pushing through it eventually during the day we feel semi normal.

I really can't believe we are doing this. If I think about it for to long....our little boat crossing the ocean...so many miles.....it scares the heck out of me but then I come back to the here and now and reality really isn't that scary. I am actually wondering if it might be harder for you guys having to watch the dot move out further and further. I put myself in my moms shoes and think of Amelia out here with her family and me watching from many miles away and I wish I could give mom a hug. Please don't worry to much. Gromits are nearby, we always wear our life jackets, we tether in at night, we never go forward without someone watching us, we have 2 EPIRBs if we ever needed a rescue, we have SSB contact and vhf with Gromits, we have spares for almost everything important and most of all we have Graham!

4 comments:

  1. I am so grateful that you have Graham and that he has you and that you both have Amelia and Alex. I know you will be fine and I am not worried. I am getting excited about my own ocean crossing from Seatle to Alaska. Nice to know we will be sort of on the same ocean. Hugs mom

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  2. The Acreage - Fort MacleodJune 13, 2010 at 5:26 AM

    Just imagaine: as the changes continue in your outlook and belief in how things in the world and yourselves works - how will it all look when this is all done!!!
    Keep on keeping on
    Love
    Dad and Cheryl

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  3. Have you heard 'are we there yet' yet? Enjoying your blogs! Keep em' coming jurird.

    Rdub

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  4. I think all the fresh air would definitely make you hungry. I went on this morning and checked the dot out. Man you guys are right out there. It is very scarey from here...I sure am glad the weather has stayed nice as you havent mentioned any storms. Stay safe and enjoy each others company...how many days left??

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