Over the Equator

Just after 5am we crossed the equator into the northern hemisphere, and I sit here almost at sunrise imagining how the old sea dogs from many years ago managed before all fancy equipment that we have today, that help us navigate this pond. Absolute respect to the adventures before us that sailed these waters with nothing but the stars and the wind in their sails, those were the hero's that have made this journey possible for the average person person today.

The past couple of days have been smooth sailing. The wind and the sea have been on their best behaviour making for some real blissful cruising. We have been using both the main sail and Mr Oxley depending on the direction of the wind. Much to my delight the peace killer has been turned off the whole time which always makes me happy. Our speeds have been great and we have been covering good ground.

Of course nothing is ever perfect as we have continued to play dogems with fishing vessels, as you most likely realise by now this has been going on for days, in this part of Northern Brazil, we became less concerned about being boarded or rammed, but the concern now is the fact that their fishing nets are spread out over many kilometres probably between 3-5 km at least and are very poorly marked. Thankfully we have a fairly shallow draft of only 1,6 meters so this allows us to just glide over the top of the net, but should the net drift up for some reason we will for sure hook it. From what we have heard and read this is actually the moment that they would board you as there will be damage their livelihood. So it would be a really concerning situation for monohulls as they generally have a much deeper draft then catamarans.

30 August
Big moment of relief! Poof ....  just like that the fishing vessels and nets are all gone 😁 not a single one in site, clearly we have entered French territory where we will hopefully have some European order on the ocean. Finally we can relax a little.

We are still contending with a few boat issues, but nothing that is unsafe or unmanageable. Just what I have come to believe are standard floating home quirks. 

Thanks to great seas and good weather we have also been able to stop and jump in for a swim, as it is pretty crazy hot out here on the equator, strangely night time temperature and day time temperature are almost exactly the same. We have also been lucky enough to catch some fish which we have enjoyed, as ceviche, sashimi and fried its days like these that make it all worth while.

Soon enough we will be nearing land and I will have to give up my bare feet and free boobs once again to appear civilised for the landlubbers.

At around midnight, we will drop anchor at Les Îles du Salut a small group of French Island. The current plan is to spend the night here and then move on to the mainland to clear in and maybe spend a few days.

It was well after 01:00am and the first spot we chose the anchor simply would not hold so after moving around that immediate area a few times with no joy,  we gave up and moved a good distance away, to attempt to find better holding and BINGO the anchor grabbed and we were set for the night ..... FINALLY after 02:30am.🤪  After 9 days at sea a couple of well deserved drinks were in order and we ended up with a 04:45am bedtime....Damn I think we are all to old for this, with the exception of Makyla and Angela