180 days ago I fulfilled one of my small dreams! At the time it felt like a milestone crossing the border into Ensenada, Mexico! I remember feeling this journey I embarked out was more than just a vacation to the USA. I was also damn nervous about getting the TIP (temporary import permit) and the border rigmarole. Of course, I didn’t have the right paperwork and it took a bit of work on my part, contacting my boat broker, who stepped up and made it way less stressful🙏🏽. Anyhow, here we are, just about to cross into international waters at 355 nautical miles off Mexico mainland! I believe international waters starts 200 NM off a any country. If so, then we are definitely in international boarder. But what I am not clear on is if this includes islands off Mexico. There are five to six islands that we have been passing throughout the night and we have two (Isla Roca Partida on our port side) coming up which we will be passing in the next 6-7 hours.
So, I slept!!! Last night I crawled into bed around 20.00 and was woken up around 00.30 to take over in the pit! I was still tired as I am pretty sure I had not slept much in the past 48 hours as waves were so close together and wind direction not favourable. For that reason, we set the steering more south than we would have liked. The motion with a following sea brings more comfort. Now we are steering more west and will continue this until we see a favourable crossing position for the equator.
I set my alarm on my phone for 25 min as this is generally how long it takes for tankers to appear on the horizon. Yesterday, I hailed two as they were within 2-3 miles of collision. Both, altered a their heading a couple of degrees to give more clearance. It has been busy with tankers, cargo ships and large pleasure boats up until now. Now, all I see is another sailboat called “Bliss” who most likely are headed to French Plolonesia! It is nice to know other sailors are out here. My Danish connection is also out here somewhere but a couple of days ahead of us. I keep in touch with them on “Noforeignland”.
I slept on and off for the next 6 hours with the alarm to wake my every 25 minutes. I stand up, look around, activate the radar and check the AIS for large boats. Repeat the alarm and go back to sleep!
At 06.00 we did shift change and I slept until 09.00! YAY!
During the night, generally, my rule is that we drop the genoa and replace it with the staysail and if necessary reef the main. This I do 30 minutes before sunset. The boat slows down a couple of knots, from 7.5kn to 5.5kn. In the event we would hit something, such as a whale, container or derelict, the impact would be less. It will also be less dramatic if a squall occurs.
In regards to food, we snack a lot. I have hard boiled eggs on hand, nuts, bread and cheese, apples and oranges. Every 2-3 days, I make a pasta/rice/veggie stew loaded with lentils, beans and chickpeas that can be eaten warm or cold. My mother would be happy to know I eat well. I dug out the fishing gear this morning so with any luck we will be feasting on fresh fish soon!
On my service list: 1. tighten up bolts on hydrovan as it seems to be moving slightly. 2. resplice some wires for the AIS and VHF, as it corroded and broke off. We temporarily cleaned it up but it needs to be done properly when we have less waves. It works for now but my friend, Kevin, the Marine electrician (on S/V Cat Harpin Blue) would be horrified, if he saw it!
Presently: 19* 24 N 111* 41 W
Boat speed: 7.3 knots
COG: 222*
Wind direction: west north west
Waves: Beautiful blue, 3-5 feet, 6 seconds apart ….DREAMY!
No wildlife other than birds; I can’t find my birdbook for identification, but I believe they are boobies. They always look like they are trying to land on the bow of the boat!
In the day, I wear shorts, sweater. In the night, I wear base layer (smart wool), foul weather gear, wool hat, socks, rubber boots and two thick wool blankets on top when I snooze in the cockpit, as air is wet and cold.
I am happy!
Ps. Male boobies are grey brownish in color with red feet, like the one on my boat. Female boobies are white with some black and also have red feet! I’ve witnessed female boobies circling around and fishing while the male is sitting here! He is probably waiting for dinner to be served!
Sailaway Sarantium 
Thanks for the update, very interesting to hear how your days are going now as you get into the groove of this trip.
Gotta love the boobies, he/she looks very comfortable there on the edge of the solar panel, perfect landing and takeoff pad for them I guess, if a bit slippery.
That weather looks perfect for comfortable sailing, and if it’s still cool at night, then even better.
It sounds like you are already into a daily routine, more or less, and the miles are ticking away.
I continue to be impressed with your average boat speed, practically catamaran numbers! Clearly Sarantium is thrilled to have been let loose on the high seas!
Fair winds to you three, cheers!
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