We sailed through the night despite varying wind speeds as squalls passed overhead. No thunder, lightning, or rain, but the sea state has grown increasingly uncomfortable since we altered course yesterday, placing the bulk of the swell on our beam. The sun rose around 8am, marking the beginning of our 24th day at sea.

Sunshine and a cool breeze put us both in a good mood despite the waves pushing us from side to side. We went about our usual routine: switching off resting, and keeping watch. We listen to our podcasts while sprawled out in the beanbag chair next to the helm or fall asleep in the saloon to the sound of the ocean. We check in with each other periodically about the weather or a weird dream we had. This is life underway with a two-person crew! 

We’re back to conserving water as the sea state refuses to calm down enough for us to run the watermaker. In these conditions, it would suck up too much air. We experimented with weighing down the intake tube for our Rainman, but even a giant jug of boat soap skipped along on top of the water as we pulled it behind us. We’re going too fast. We can’t help but laugh at the fact that we have two watermakers, and we can’t use either of them. Mother Nature does not care how prepared you are. Our new strategy: get on anchor ASAP! If the wind stays like this, we’ll arrive in 3-4 days. Maybe we’ll get some rain before then.

We’re close enough now to start thinking about our to-do list: the boat desperately needs to be washed, the bottom probably needs to be scraped, we need to do laundry, etc. What is the check-in process like in Hiva Oa? Where can we dispose of our trash? It’s both exciting and overwhelming. I’m looking forward to swimming again. 

We jibed this afternoon to see if we could get some solar. It was bright and sunny, but our sails had been shading the panels all day. Unfortunately, it didn’t help, so we returned to our original course. Clouds have since rolled in, and it seems like the sea state has calmed down slightly. Only 490 more miles to go!