Monday, May 21, 2012

Blog updated 11 April-20 May

I’ve gone back to 11 May, reread my journal, chosen the best pictures and added details to what has already been posted to the blog regarding our first blue water passage.

It took 45 days leaving from Guaymas, 33 days leaving from Cabo San Lucas - our last sight of land. It was a passage with many ups and downs. Things seemed to break far too often, although we were once told that for each day on passage one thing can be expected to break. Dick did quite well although fatigue was a big factor. He said it was much more difficult to do a passage with just two people compared to his passage to the Marquesas last year with Darren and Haruka on Cool Cat. To be honest, emotionally I had more downs than ups, although (Dick said) I stepped up when help was needed. A quote from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle! by Barbara Kingsolver: “It’s commonly said that humans remember pleasure but forget pain, and that is the only reason women ever have more than one child.” So my hope is I will remember the good parts, and in time, be able to try another blue water passage.

Big thanks to Phyllis who received a satellite phone text message everyday and posted our progress to the blog.

2 comments:

  1. Sad to hear about so many downs for you Arlete.They will dissapear quickly with a bit of R & R..
    33 days at sea is nearly unheard of these days, no-one can ever take that chalenge, that you succeeded in, away from you both. You must have saved alot of fuel , ha.. The first passage for me was very hard , I felt like all the responsibility was on my shoulders, Im sure Dick felt much more this way on this passage, and rightly so. Forgive me if Im wrong.
    I had to change my moods on passage and fortunately after the Marquases they are only a max passage of about 5 days. I must have done so as Haruka and I made it all the way to Aus after that , with not many bad days.
    As we left every anchorage or harbour for passage we would hug , kiss each other and both say , lets just love and respect each other , no matter what. It truely brings tears to my eyes when I think back of the tower of strength Haruka was to me. Im sure Dick would feel the same about you.
    On a better note , you just cant beat that feeling of seeing land.
    33 days, still cant believe it , dont think I would have lasted , well done , you are amaxing.
    Darren
    ps , did you catch any fish.

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  2. Darren, you are correct. Dick has said many times that being responsible for the boat is a huge challenge. He was much more relaxed in this regard on Cool Cat because you were the captain/owner. And doing a passage with three people is much easier than just two. No fish, no fishing - just too much to do.

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