//WL2K Galapagos to Easter Island - Day 1 recap

We left the Galapagos Islands with the speed of their namesakes - a lumbering tortoise-like 3 knots, but is there a better way to ease into a long, interminably long passage? If we get an average of 100nm per day, we should be making the passage in 20 days. Unfortunately....

24 hours has come and go and we are already behind schedule - haha. As all true sailors know, the only time you want to have a schedule is when you are desperate for something to go wrong. Schedules mean bad decisions. Schedules mean making plans prior to consulting with Mother Nature. Schedules are not a sailor's friend. So we go with the flow...except when the boat speed drops to 1 knot. Then we look at alternatives.

The first 24 hours has come and gone, and we are settling into "the life". A brief synopsis:

Hour 1 - Motoring out to find the wind
Hour 2- Found a bit of wind. Sails up, and clocking 4knots
Hour 3 - Wind died
Hour 4 - Engine on, hopefully not for long
Hour 7 - Engine off, sails out
Hour 14 - Squall hits, scramble for side panels for the cockpit - MUST KEEP COCKPIT CUSHIONS DRY
Hour 15 - Squall passes, drying out process (I was too slow)
Hour 20 - Wind died, motor on
Hour 21 - Wind back up!!!!

Which brings us to now, Hour 26, blazing along at a respectable 5.5 knots, with 12-16 knots of wind. But the best news is our heading is directly to our destination, despite a pesky 2 knot side current which threatens to deposit us to the Marquesas instead of south to Easter Island.

A sobering conversation predeparture....."Just think cap'n, can you believe we'll be traveling at sea for 20+ days?" Captain replies, "and just think, that'll then put us smack dab in the middle of nowhere. We'll then get to travel for another 10-20 days to get somewhere else"

Upon leaving the islands behind, we were witness to a tremendous manta ray belly flop display. I think that'll probably be it for sea life, except for the occasional bird.

No problems to report (for once). Yay!!!!

12 noon, February 15, 2015
Position: 02 02'0485s, 092 15'.715w
Heading: 190 degrees
Wind: 11-16 knots
Boat Speed: 5.5
Ground Log: 97.49nm
Conditions: overcast, and grey. 3-5 foot swells