Journal Entry – May 5, 2005 – Pacific Puddle Jump - Day One, Take Two

Author: Scott and Pam

We woke up this morning with the excitement of departure rekindled. We looked at each other from our bunks on opposite sides of the salon and said “we are going to sail across an ocean today”! Although leaving from San Francisco to start our voyage was unbelievably exhilarating, I think we always knew there was the safety net of cruising off the coast down to Mexico. If there was a problem we could sail into the nearest port and face it, but today we would put Tournesol and our training to the test out in the middle of the vast ocean. Why else have people ventured out to sea for so many years, but for the pure adventure of it and today really marks the beginning of the unknown adventure for us. I have been coming to Mexico for many years and Pam has more recently visited Mexico, so we are comfortable with the culture and the Country. Oh yes we have had and met our challenges in Mexico, but today we are venturing into the unknown. Neither of us have been to the South Pacific, let alone made a crossing of more than six days. We get to put away our fears of pangas and coastal fishing boats with their crab pots and long lines, and focus our attention on remaining diligent for shipping traffic when it becomes so easy to become relaxed in the wide open blue sea. Our success now depends on our training and ingenuity.

Today our priorities were a little confused. First, there is always the need to thoroughly check everything on the boat, despite the fact that we had done so prior to departure. Then we seemed unable to turn off our activity level that had hit a crescendo that had built prior to the departure, though our main priority for the day was to try to slow down, and enjoy the sail. Before leaving everything was such a frenzy that it takes a while to change pace. We did finally settle down for our “chill hours” which take place around sunset. We often read together during this time, but today we just hung out and listened to the CD that Moana gave us for the passage. The CD was chook full of great boat music. Thanks Moana! We set out to eat our fresh food with gusto and managed to barbecue delicious cheeseburgers with all the fixings (normally it is too windy to barbecue at sea). Just as the barbecue was complete the wind turned up a notch and we were back to sailing at a steady pace. At 22:00 I settled in for my first rest period while Pam was on watch. I fell asleep listening to the sounds of the water pass beneath us and thinking of how small we were under the blanket of stars, and what a fantastic adventure we were living.