Shaken, Not Stirred (and Passepartout aka the Black Pearl)

Shaken, Not Stirred

It is really, really hot out today, 29 degrees in the shade with almost 100% humidity.

When we started this journey, none of us knew what we were getting ourselves into. None of us had sailed anything nearly close to this distance in the open ocean. It turns out that it is actually quite hard to find an expanse of sea anywhere in the world that exceeds this distance without some sort of rest stop or midpoint. This amount of sailing would be what a recreational sailor does over fifteen years of recreational boating and we have condensed it over two weeks. The weight of the task that sits upon our shoulders is starting to sink in.

This morning we began our eleventh day at sea. It also marks our third consecutive day of maintaining a course of 240 degrees in steady winds that create over six feet heavy ocean swell on the nose that send soul-rattling thuds through the boat, day and night, as the boat breaches a wave every twenty seconds.

We have nicknamed our most frequently seen competitor, Passepartout, "The Black Pearl" because it seems to pop up on the horizon without any warning and skulk around an hour and then disappear. They are currently safely about twenty miles to the East of us. However, they were within about a hundred feet of us just a couple of days ago attempting to solicit expensive mustard from us through the radio.

Our navigators are starting to agree that our arrival time will be the 18th or 19th, or for those that are counting, that is around 6 days away, or 120 hours, or 10 shifts. However, trust in them is waning and several of the crew have splintered off and are actively recruiting others into a group that disbelieves that Hawaii exists. Why would part of the United States be in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? I, for one, have never been there and am conflicted as to which group to align myself with. So far the protests have been peaceful. I will keep you posted on any developments.

So far, today has been the most challenging for the group in terms of morale. Our sleeps are short and light because of the rolling of the boat in wind and waves. This, on top of how much we are all missing our loved ones is making the days seem longer. The shores of Maui can't appear soon enough, but our team is still standing strong with the end in sight.

Things that are keeping the team together:

• Darin's cooking - He is persistently slaving over a hot stove dishing up plentiful and delicious meals. I had plans of losing weight on this trip but he is not collaborating and I'm starting to look like Honey Boo Boo's mom.

• Our progress so far - We are consistently hitting our goals for the day. If we don't hit our goal we use the downtime to recharge and rest to make sure we hit our next shifts at full bore.

• Positive decision making and leadership - We have had a highly collaborative approach to strategy thus far. Before the race began we agreed that we wouldn't take risks that could seriously hurt us down the road. This has paid off is spades so far <knock on wood>.

Looking forward to seeing the smiling faces of our friends and family! We can't wait to see you!!

As the sun sets on us tonight the total on our odometer is just north of 1,800 miles and we smashed through around 170 of those today. We have around 1000 miles left to go and seem to be able to knock off around 170 per day when heading up-wind and well over 200 on downwind legs. The breeze wants to shift downwind in the next day or so and will allow us to throw our progress on the home stretch into overdrive!

It has come up at least five times today that we can almost taste the burger and beers that will be waiting for us on the dock. I really hope that someone reads this and makes that dream come true.

Missing you all like crazy,

The boys on Turnagain