But as we turned around the southwest side of Oahu, the lovely mellow gorgeous sailing turned into quit the scene. Over the next six hours everyone, except Captain Clive, Skipper Dale and Judy, a sailor/social worker from Hawaii who is the same age as my mom, took their turn leaning over the side of the Sea Dragon. At times, more than four of us were leaning over together. Yup, so much for me being the "one in ten people that don't get sea sick." But it wasn't that bad. It could have been worse. People were feeling worse that me. So I just pretended to feel okay. That's all you can do until you do feel okay.
For the last three days the swells have been ten plus feet and the winds have averaged around 25-30 knots. We've all worn our full foulies (waterproof overalls and jackets) and life vests most of the rainy days. But our little Sea Dragon and our amazing leaders, Clive and Dale have been working hard to get us through the trade winds. We are heading directly north while the winds are coming at us from the northeast. The winds are strong and they are making us put up a bit of a fight to get to the center of the gyre. But we are working our way there.
This morning (today is July 10) I work up feeling good. I poked my head out to deck at 730AM to see Marcus, the research leader from Algalita, and Skipper Dale, who is actually the expedition leader, preparing the research equipment. After helping tidy up the "snake pit," the area where all the lines come together in a massive mess, if not organized, I made oatmeal with a bit of banana and cinnamon for those who were up. Jin, a videographer from Korea, has now been calling me "little mama" for the morning because he was quite happy with his oatmeal. Jin doesn't speak English so our conversations are broken and entertaining. But his sidekick is Brandon, another film guy from Korea, who is also Jin's translator.
I've already been on night watch twice and it is taking some getting used to. This is not the South Atlantic Voyage with gorgeous calm seas and warm light winds. At least not yet. During both watches I daydreamed of fresh scones and crepes. But the most I could do was make some peppermint tea. But this hit the spot and was worth the ten bruises.
I'm ready for the research to begin. We are still waiting for the seas to calm a bit. And we have a birthday party tomorrow night. This means we will have to make a birthday cake for Aussie Tim, one of the founders of an Aussie non-profit called Take Three that focuses on beach cleanups and public education. I'm ready for cake now. This is a good sign.
Approx. Location:
30 06.25N
157 11.20W
562 miles North of Honolulu
xo
