Postcard from the Pacific
Dear Eva:
We sail mail you this postcard for your class project from the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We are on a 3 week (3000 mi) crossing on sailing vessel "Bravado". We left La Cruz, Mexico exactly 9 days ago on our way to French Polynesia and since then we have sailed 1425 miles. We hope to cross the equator on Saturday, March 21, and Hein, Jet and Eltjo are really looking forward to some presents from Neptune. Did you know that he visits and brings presents for everyone who crosses the equator?! (King Neptune: I give presents, but I also make these children go through a ceremony where they need to wash their hair with filthy stuff and eat even filthier stuff.)
We have seen a lot of wildlife. For instance, Flying fish !
Flying fish jump out of the water, look like little birds (3-6 inches in size with 4-6 inch wingspan), and can fly about 20-30 yards. Quite often we find them on the boat and last weekend, one of them flew into uncle Gary's (your dad) stomach while he was standing in the cockpit.
Twice, we have seen dolphins. They are very playful and will ride with the boat for about 30 minutes. They like the pressure under the bow. We also heard them make clicking sounds and one dolphin had 2 sucker fish attached to it.
We are also surprised to still see quite a few birds so far from land. We've seen them dive for fish and chase each other. Quite fun.
Live on board:
The boat is small; 45 feet and we have 6 people on board: captain Ewout, first mate Gary, skipper and teacher Judith and first class passengers Jet, Hein and Eltjo (Hein also doubles as the assistant cook).
Since we are really close to the equator, we are sitting in a hot tub of sweat; it's pretty hot out here. Luckily, we can wash away our sweat by standing in some very frequent and intensive, natural showers. When these heavy downpours occur, we strip down, grab our soap bars and lather up! Better be quick, otherwise you will be left standing full of soap with no rain to wash it off !
The first 3 days at sea, we were either sea sick or had little energy; but now everybody is in tip top shape and full of energy. We read a lot, listen to music and books on tape and every now and then we watch a movie. Since the seas have been pretty choppy, we were not able to do our usual boat/home schooling program.
Imagine life on a roller coaster, side to side; up and down. And then try to imagine cooking dinner or brushing teeth on a roller coaster!! It's something like that what we experience out here. Quite a challenging environment to live in.
Every morning, we have a "puddle jump net". Through a special boat walkie/talkie, we communicate with other sailing vessels that are also on their way to the Marquesas and French Polynesia. It is fun to hear other people talk to you out in the middle of the Ocean. We also exchange jokes and riddles with a 10 year old boy, Robin, from sailing vessel Hipnautical. There are about 20 boats underway, and we are among the first four.
Weather:
While on a sailing vessel you want the right amount of wind; not too much, not too little. You also want it from the right direction. The last couple of days we spent in the trade-winds. This is an area with fairly constant winds of about 15 mph. Ideal cruising weather! Last night, we had a significant number of heavy showers and thunderstorms. These are called squalls. The captain had to use all his skills (incl computer and radar skills) to navigate through these stormy waters.
We are sorry that it is sent by email, but it is rather hard to find a post office out at sea.
Lots of love,
your cousins Jet, Hein and Eltjo
(and Ewout, Judith and your dad).
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