We started this passage with the plan of no set watches which had worked well in the past but we've settled on a fixed night watch that so far works even better for us. 8 days into this passage, the schedule goes something like this:
- 08:30 or so Livia wakes up and gets coffee in bed. If Carol hasn't eaten, we have breakfast together. Often eggs with diced veggies and bacon, or rolled oats, or cereal.
- Between breakfast and lunch, we do small chores and download and evaluate weather files. We get several graphical analyses including the location of the ITCZ. We download a grib file and open it in OpenCPN so it is overlaid onto our position and track. Chores have included things like hand washing small batches of clothing, checking lines on deck for chafe, checking on the produce in the v-berth and turning the egg flats over so the eggs stay good. This is also a good time to jibe if we are planning to do so that day. Usually one or the other of us naps.
- Livia cooks lunch and we eat it in the cockpit. In fact, Livia does most of the cooking because Carol, although feeling well most of the time, can get quickly seasick in the galley. While we have a lot of produce, lunch is often salad with or without sandwiches, or leftovers from dinner.
- Between lunch and dinner we run the watermaker. The watermaker interferes with our SSB radio reception so afternoon is a good time of day to run it. We try to keep the port tank between 5-10 gallons from full. We have two tanks of 33 gallons plus some extra portable "just in case" water in jugs for this passage. We take showers in the sunny afternoon, read books, have interesting discussions, and nap. Sometimes there are more chores but usually only if one of us napped away the morning and is using the afternoon for their planned chores instead. Afternoon is time to enjoy the glorious weather and soak in the experience of passage.
- Dinner is a hot meal every night thus far. Obviously this will change if conditions get too lumpy. Tonight Carol cut fresh Dorado fillets (first fish!) into chunks in the cockpit. I dipped them in eggs and cornmeal, pan fried them and served them with tortillas and leeks sautéed in butter. Not our most heart healthy moment but delicious.
- After dinner, before the two nets we are checking into, we discuss whether we want to make any sail plan and/or course changes for the night. If so, we do that before dark. Carol gets a (collapsible) bucket of salt water and does a days worth of dishes in the cockpit. He hands the dishes down to me. I fresh water rinse, hand dry and put them away.
- Net time consists of the Pacific Puddle Jump Net at 0200Z and then the Pacific Seafarers Net at 0300 (warmup)/0330 (roll call). We keep a waypoint for each boat that we want to track and as the roll calls progress we update their position so that our electronic charting shows the fleet. Livia or Carol takes the Puddle Jump Net and then Carol preps the Pacific Seafarer Net while Livia starts getting ready for bed.
- From 9pm to midnight, Carol stands watch. We both spend a fair amount of each watch just staring at the sky and ocean now that the weather is warm and being outside is more pleasant. The cockpit is still very damp and salty at night but no longer cold, even in the wind. Normal watch activities include logging our position, adjusting the windvane and (rarely) the sails, using the flashlight to check lines on deck and of course, keeping a regular scan of the horizon and doing radar and AIS scans as warranted by the conditions. Carol also likes to listen to whatever he can find on the SSB and play solitaire
- From midnight until 5am, Livia stands watch. In addition to normal watch activities, I write email, blog, read and if I'm desperate to stay awake, I play hearts on the computer.
- From 5 am until Livia wakes up, Carol stands watch again.
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