Daily Chores

June 30, 2040Z//1040L: 2848.24N/15949.21W. The winds have slowly shifted to the North from 060 to 025. As a result we have altered our course slightly NNW.

The first thing to understand is that everything you do while underway is a chore! There is of course kitchen duty for prepping meals and cleaning. We have a propane grill mounted on the aft port rail and a Coleman camp stove mounted on top of the built in stove in the galley. We are not using the built in stove or oven. We have 2 small refrigerators in addition to the built in cold plate which has the most room. The produce is ripening very fast and much is getting tossed, but still some available. We wash dishes with sea water scooped with a bucket on a line with soap added and a final rinse in sea water. Although we are making fresh water daily, we are conserving the fresh for drinking, and human hygiene. We started the trip with 250 gallons of fresh water. As a result, I have learned to enjoy my morning coffee with a slight salty taste! Energy management is important. The canopy overhead the back of the boat is comprised of 8 solar panels that generate 275 amp-hrs per day in Hawaii. Currently they are generating 29amps. In addition to the solar panels, we have a diesel generator and of course the diesel engine. We run the generator when drawing significant loads such as running the microwave and the water desalinator and to charge up the batteries after the night shift. Of course checking the weather is a constant task. We are currently tracking the high pressure that is sitting to our North. We download faxes several times a day over the HF radio directly to the computer. It takes about 15 minutes to download a single fax, but the real trick is to find a transmitting weather station with good enough reception. I am currently downloading a satellite shot of the N Pacific.
Then there is the daily struggle to stay dry. Last night I fell victim to the drips of condensation dropping on my feet and shoulders while trying to sleep. When I got up this morning I mistakenly assessed that the conditions were conducive to opening some windows. Within 20 minutes of that simple act, we got hit by a 8 ft wave that doused the entire boat and seemed to target my bunk. Nothing escaped the deluge. So most of my bedding is now top side tied to a rail flapping in the wind drying. And when I say drying, I mean that in a relative sense. Nothing dries out in the salty sea air. Varying degrees of damp is as good as it gets!