Captains log: It's like a checker board

Date: July 8, 2022

Time: 15:51

Location:31 55.470N/126 10.122W

From here I'll talk a lot of technical stuff, so just skip all this if you're not up to the task of tracking our sleep schedule and technical calculations around our water rationing. 

Today was the first changing of the guards ceremony where we shifted our watch schedule. In theory the system was going to work well, but when I looked at Nicks schedule in particular, I realized that the time shift was going to be very difficult. Here's the updated system:

DN Position 1

JB Position 2

GM Position 3

NB Position 4

The positions never change, but the time shifts. 

7/4-7/7

DN 1: 00:00-06:00  9hr break 15:00-21:00 3hr break

JB 2. 06:00-12:00 9hr break 21:00-03:00 3hr break

GM 3. 03:00-09:003hr break 12:00-18:00 9hr break

NB 4. 09:00-15:003hr break 18:00-00:00 9hr break

7/8-7/11

DN 1: 03:00-09:00  9hr break 18:00-00:00 3hr break

JB 2. 09:00-15:00 9hr break 00:00-06:00 3hr break

GM 3. 06:00-12:003hr break 15:00-21:00 9hr break

NB 4. 12:00-18:003hr break 21:00-03:00 9hr break

7/12-7/15

DN 1. 06:00-12:00 9hr break 21:00-03:00 3hr break

JB 2. 12:00-18:00 9hr break 03:00-09:00 3hr break

GM 3. 09:00-15:003hr break 18:00-00:00 9hr break

NB 4. 15:00-21:003hr break 00:00-06:00 9hr break

7/16-7/19

DN 1. 09:00-15:00 9hr break 00:00-06:00 3hr break

JB 2. 15:00-21:00 9hr break 06:00-12:00 3hr break

GM 3. 12:00-18:003hr break 21:00-03:00 9hr break

NB 4. 18:00-00:003hr break 03:00-09:00 9hr break

Repeat....

Now that we have the watch schedule logistics out of the way, lets get into another hot-topic going on in the boat...water...and I'm not talking about the water around us, I'm talking about the fresh water on the boat. We originally anticipated this being a 15-17 day trip, however this lack of wind is causing very serious concern regarding ETA in Hawaii. Today is our 5th day but we still have 1811NM remaining to Hawaii. Software is saying we will arrive in about 17 days from now which places us in Hawaii around the 25th or 26th. Hopefully this prediction will vastly change when the wind picks back up, but it does cause significant concern regarding our water reserves. 

Here's where we stand. We departed with 92 gallons of fresh water. It appears that we've been using around 6.5 gallons per day, so this only gives us a 14 day run. We originally estimated around 5 gallons per day which would have given us an 18 day run before empty. Now that we seem to be using more than anticipated, starting this morning we've implemented rationing. Last night Nick, Joe and myself spent a significant amount of time discussing a system that would allow us to measure out our daily usage. Here's the system we implemented:

4 gallons per day total

Dedicated 1 quart bottle used to measure out water from the sink, which then goes into our water bottles, cooking, etc. 

A sheet of paper taped to the wall with the date listed vertically and a tick for each quart taken out. 

Additionally, all washing of dishes is to be done in salt water and boiling of pasta, etc. is also done in salt water. We have a nice salt water faucet in the kitchen so choosing between salt and fresh water is an easy task. 

When I got up at noon I quickly realized what a creative person Joe is! He taped a picture of a guy at the beach onto the 1 quart bottle with a funny caption about rationing.

>>>>>>SKIP DOWN TO HERE TO SKIP THE TECHNICAL TALK!<<<<<<<

Did I mention that the lack of wind is driving us crazy! For all of you who prayed for gentle seas, please stop praying! It's too much of a good thing. We need 15-30knts of wind so please put your intentions and prayers on that metric. There's a hurricane (or it might just be a very strong tropical storm) down below us now, so keep those prayers out of the hurricane force winds please. 

Last night I woke up at 2:50am to come on watch at 03:00. I came out and Joe was hand steering us through the night. At that point we did have good wind and it was an almost spiritual experience for me. I saw man who's hand lightly gripped the wheel, harnessed the wind and guided a 32,000lb sailboat dancing through the seas with the stars above. There's a red light in the compass that shone upon his face, just slightly illuminating this epic stage of sea and stars. Those who sailed before us eons before us without compass among the night in the open ocean, demands a respect deep within me for the epic expedition's of our ancestors before us. 

This is not a quiet crew. At least up to day 5. Hard to tell how much chatter there will be once, we've shared every last funny story we could ever recall, like the bowman who only has so many arrows to deploy. It's an interesting analysis to consider the components of an interesting conversation, at least from my personal perspective. 

1. Stories. "Listen to this!" "You wouldnt believe what happened to this guy I know!" "One time I was at this place and this/that happened" Stories are fun and hopefully make ones around you laugh or relate. Or there's the story of one with an ego who seeks to impress. But like our stores of water, there's a limited supply, a limited attention span and the stories dwindle...

2. We can talk about people. People discussions seem to take a flavor. The discussion can either go in the way of how wonderful some person is, or how challenging some person is. This also seems limited in scope as to the duration a group can sustain long-term discussion. 

3. Feelings and ideas. To this there is no end. There is no end to the way one feels now, in the past and how one may feel in the future. For ideas, there too is no end to the conversation that can ensue hour after hour, day after day. 

With that I leave you this. Last night we talked about how cool it would be, how amazing it would be in 500 years from now to be able to jump into our gravitic drive (gravity grasping propulsion system for jumping between solar systems) machines and explore. So I contemplated how incredible that might be, but in that contemplation I considered how I would feel at that moment of being able to fly between the planets. My reflection brought me upon a peculiar conclusion in that I might not "feel" in that exact moment that it was much cooler that I feel in what I'm doing at the moment. Because in the end, it seems that how a person feels at any given time is really what matters. 

I'm going to mention this to Nick tonight, because I'm sure he can give me an answer! haha! You have to know Nick to know what I'm talking about, but this guy is the zen master of discussing ideas. 

Oh and before I go. Gene pulled in our fishing line this morning. We left it out all night. Our line is thick 400lb test line...well, it was all chewed up and all of the gear and lures were torn off. So we've got our "fish that got away" story. We're thinking bill-fish (marlin/sword fish), but who knows...oh, and on that note, Gene and I saw a sword fish flying into the air this morning! It was a pretty spectacular sight. 

Much love to all those following and thanks for all the support.