weather routing service and to Bruce to get the go-ahead, and we are off!
6:15am – Jib raised, engine off, sun rising behind us, warming our
shoulders.
As I watch the sun rise over Mexico's mountains the land becomes smaller
and smaller, and I relax. The stress of uncertainty over the last seven
weeks melts off of me. I smile. The breeze is lovely. The boat sways
comfortably and the sails carry us forward. I am not sweating buckets
in the Mexican summer heat. Life is good.
Carmen says, "I love it when there is no land in sight, it is as if we
are floating on a giant blue disk."
To our surprise, we have been able to sail the entire first 12 hours
(about 70 nautical miles) of our 2,500nm journey to Hilo, Hawaii. No
engine rumbling below us, no uncomfortable waves tossing us around.
Just peace, wind, sunshine. This is a good thing, as we carry enough
fuel to run the engine for about 12 days and the trip will take us
anywhere from 18-24 days. So conservation is important. We know a
family of sailors who used their engine for only seven hours the entire
trip from Mexico to the South Pacific. We are hoping to follow suit.
As of now, we head SSW making about 5-6knots per hour. Although it
appears to be a little bit out of the way, our routing information tells
us that if we go a little bit further south we will stay in wind and
actually make landfall quicker than if we went in a straight line west
to Hawaii. The patience I learned while preparing to depart land is
serving me well, as we go in a seemingly roundabout way to our destination.
Loving the journey.
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