Oaxaca has made landfall! Here’s the last log entry of the passage.
8/9 17:00
Position: 37º 52’ N 124º 01’ 44” W
Speed Over Ground: 7 knots
Course Over Ground: 094º magnetic
True Wind Speed: 9 knots
Our last full day on the sea! I awoke this morning to a lullaby, sailing on a dream. The calm, soft slapping of the waves on the hull as we sailed a smooth 9 knots in 10 knot wind, the sea almost flat except for the gentle swells from the northeast.
Coffee in the cockpit with Rhys and Andreas who were on watch. Erden whipped up his (now) infamous 'sailor's hash:’ consisting of half a cabbage sautéed with onions in a stick of butter, and some bacon jerky stirred in. Add a soft-fried egg and lots of black pepper, and we have one of the best dishes in the Northeast Pacific. We watched the sea roll until my turn at the helm at our current "boat" time of 7 am. Which is actually 10 am "local" time; and we are beginning to realize we will need to adjust.
Whales in the early afternoon off the port aft, and post nap I awoke to a thick fog which has hung on all the way until now, 7 pm "local" time. We will keep our eyes and ears open as we go into the night with the fog, going south of the Farallons and arriving to the mainland before sunrise. As inconceivable as it was when we last watched Hawaii fade into the dusk 14 days ago, it seems almost as inconceivable that we will see land as the day begins to break in less than 12 hours….
What an adventure this has been! Upwind sailing, downwind sailing, hot sunny days, sunsighting with the sextant, squalls, sea baths, sunsets. Bioluminescence cascading in the wake, shooting stars, celestial navigation, dolphins, albatross, seas so smooth we could see our reflection leaning over the bow, 12 ft seas on the beam, choppy seas, confused seas, spinnaker sailing, Black Betty sailing, storm jib sailing, honey smooth daydream sailing. Karaoke singing at sunset, delicious dishes, creative cooking, hot drinks, pineapple, apples, flavored water, fresh fish. Starbusts and gummy bears.
But most importantly, six sailors who have crossed over 2,000 nautical miles of deep blue sea, salt on their skin, memories in their head and dreams of hot showers, cold beers and ice cream.
Elyn Andersson
