About twenty years ago I likened sailing across the Pacific to driving from LA to NY by getting in your car, putting it in drive, and then coasting at idle speed for three or four weeks without opening the door. That still seems about right.
We reached the northern edge of the ITCZ (doldrums) and the weather changed immediately. Our string of beautiful downwind days came to an abrupt end with lines of storms across the horizon.
The wind shifted from about thirty degrees off our stern to dead on the nose. We had seen the storms coming, gotten the Parasailor down in time, and brought up the main with a couple of reefs in it. We veered off to the west (wind straight out of the south) and galloped along tight on the wind with reduced sails. Winds topped off at just over thirty knots while I stood out in the rain keeping an eye on things.
I even threw a lifejacket on for good measure. Fortunately, there was no reason for me to go up on deck since we had reefed early.
Seas built a bit, as you can see by the angle of the picture below, but the heavy rain tamped them down quite a bit. No real drama, just a long, wet, uncomfortable day. A big departure from the beautiful weather we’d experienced up until this point.
True to the doldrum’s form, by night the wind had dropped back down to ten knots and shifted back around behind us again. Three a.m. it was time to raise the light wind Parasailor again. This boobie had set up camp for the night under the shelter of the Starlink dish, and didn’t care one bit that we were working lines and setting sails right next to him.
(insert who’s the boobie joke here)
With calm weather returned, Ali socked away some easy to grab lunches.
It took us nearly a year, and an untold amount of cussing (Alison), but we finally figured out how to light this damn stove so it will stay lit. Turn quarter turn while pressing down and light burner, while holding down finish turning all the way to low and count to ten, while still pressing down turn back up just a bit until the flame pops a little higher, release. Without using that very specific sequence it will be twenty minutes before you will get the burner to stay lit when you release the button.
The day after our storm day. Light winds from behind, along with very easy seas.
We squirreled away a few time killers, like Legos, before we left. Just about anything can be more fun than usual when you’ve been at sea for a while. Also in this picture I notice the saloon couch cushions are removed and my tools are on the floor. This trip has been a major pain on our boat’s plumbing. Something that could have so easily been avoided if we had thought about it before we left.
The motion of the seas is kicking up sediment at the bottom of our water tanks. Lots of little white bits of calcium (?). The water pump’s filter is constantly clogged. Somewhere at the Nautitech factory is an idiot who has never worked on a boat outside of the factory itself. The fresh water pump is located in the wall underneath the kitchen table directly alongside countless electronics. Every day I have to crawl under there, open the filter, and drain water and sediment out without getting it all over the place and spilling on the electronics.
On top of this, a lot of sediment gets past that little filter, and clogs every faucet in the house to the point that they stop working. The kitchen sink faucet filter has to be cleared daily. The washing machine, before every load. And both showers. The toilets also won’t flush when the pump is clogged up.
If we had thought about this potential problem before leaving, we would have drained the water tanks, opened them up and vacuumed out the bottom with a wet dry vac. A pretty easy fix. Underway, on a 3-week long passage, I’m unwilling to risk draining our water to do this (what if the watermaker conks out on us?).
Fishing has been a total bust. So far I’ve caught one baby mahi mahi that the family insisted I throw back in. An hour later I caught another baby and was pulling him in when something very large ate him right off the line in front of me. I saw nothing but a flash of white water, and received a strong tug on the line before they were both gone. A couple of days later, after another no-bite day, I pulled in the line to find that, in fact, something had hammered my lure. Unfortunately, it appears my “good deal” Amazon lures have hooks made of tin.
I replaced the hooks on this lure, since it was the only one getting any hits, and tossed it back in the next day. A few hours later, thinking I’d gotten nothing all day, I reeled it in to find that the entire lure was gone. The line ended with an empty, still closed, swivel.
For the record, I’m fishing with heavy test line on a hand reel, with a bungee cord at the boat’s end.
The anchor snubber on this boat is way too short, so I decided to build my own. I’ve never spliced a line in my life, but a quick YouTube tutorial set me straight on how easy it is to make an eye splice. My very first one was a success. I never realized how simple it would be to make nice docklines. Project got put on the backburner for now, but I’m confident I can bang it out once we’re settled (I have to measure a length that I’m not really able to do accurately while the boat is cruising along).
Every day there is at least one new problem on the boat. Some minor, some major. This was a minor one that could have been a major one. We had just finished topping up the water tanks a few minutes before, when I walked over to the helm to have a look at things. As I was walking over I noticed a bunch of water where it shouldn’t have been. The outdoor freshwater rinse hose had split. It was overflowing the compartment it was in, which would ultimately spill into the engine compartment, and was spilling out onto the deck. Within an hour it would have emptied our freshwater tanks if I hadn’t stumbled on it when I did.
Just so happens we had a brand new one to replace it.
Motoring in calms for the first time on day twelve. Good day for laundry.
In the evening the storm clouds started popping up around us again. None of them would create any winds, though, and would only give us a bit of a drizzle as we passed through them in the dark.
When saying goodnight to Lowe that night I asked if he was excited. We had crossed the midway point and I figured the kids might be happy to now be counting down the days remaining instead of simply counting up the days we’d been underway.
“Excited for what?” he asked.
“You know, getting there, getting off the boat.”
“Oh, yeah, I suppose. Not really, though. I don’t mind this.”
The kids both seem completely nonplussed by this whole thing. Despite years of living and cruising on boats, this is by far their longest passage, and yet their lives and routines hardly seem to have been altered. Admittedly, I’ve felt pretty similarly. The overall nice weather has had a lot to do with it. For me, and for Ali I think, each day out here seems to present one challenge that needs to be addressed and overcome—water problems, cooking, power issues, etc.—and beyond that it’s pretty calm and routine.
16 Comments on “In the Doldrums”
What a neat place to post problems. Some follower is always bound to have the knowledge to lend advice.
If you are averaging 5 knots while trolling, that might not be enough to stimulate Mahi, Wahoo, Tuna and billfish to bite. 7-9 knots would improve your bite statistics dramatically, given good fishing conditions, along with trying different (color) lures when the boat is racing. Fluorocarbon in the 30 to 40-lb range for a leader if you have it would help any shy fish. But more importantly, is the hand reel on a bungee cord. I assume the line is locked around the reel. There probably isn’t enough give, such as with a rod to keep a fish hooked. And without drag, any big fish will destroy your tackle. Something interesting I learned while fishing the sea. Braid doesn’t stretch, so without a leader, such as fluro (which stretches a lot), the fish unhook themselves or pull free pretty easy. If you want to continue to use the hand reel and bungee method, try fluoro or pick it up in the Marquesa’s for your future trips. The tug is the drug!
Nice splice!
I’m pretty sure I would have said the same thing as Lowe. Imagine not being able to see the stars at night when on land again….nah, I’m good. 🙂
Such lovely pictures. I’m just sitting here staring each one, breathing softly and deeply. They’re perfect for getting into a peaceful state (even the stormy photos). And excellent job splicing the line! It’s much better than my first attempt turned out. 🙂
The routine to keep the stove lit seems similar to what I had to do to keep a burner on my previous Beneteau Oceanis 37 lit… I can’t recall the exact steps, but I remember the frustration going on forever until I finally stumbled on something that worked. Even after figuring it out, the solution became routine and I couldn’t tell you exactly what it was, but your description sounds about right. I wish I could take credit, but sometimes finding the solution is just dumb luck.
Great looking splice!
Beautiful pix!
Thanks so much for sharing your “exciting” adventures at sea! 🙂 Such great kids!
Glad problems remain relatively minor for you. Laughed about your stove challenge-we once stayed in an apartment with such a complicated stove to operate, the owner sent a video for us to follow. Every morning began with hilarious laughter as we two old farts watched the video, longing for coffee….
Smooth sailing!
Gail
I loved following your first trip around the world, and now am so stoked to follow this one. I am not a sailor, but come from a sailing family, so I have zero knowledge. Does this iteration of Bumfuzzle have an indoor living/lounge room, or just the very cool, and spacious one under cover where lots of pictures are from. Do the kids share a room like on your monohul , or each their own cabin? I’m sorry if this is more information than you will share, please forgive me but I’m just so fascinated, and my brain likes to process how things fit together. I followed a amily on a Catamaran years ago , and saw how they lived with their 2 kids on board, and so am very curious/nosey. Also the boobie, in the middle of the ocean, so cool! Thank you for sharing, I am so happy to see the world again.
I remember bumfuzzle the first being loaded with beer, and you both trying pizzas around the world. 🤗
Beautiful splice. I just love how you tube has so many answers. We are in the process of stick building a garage. It has been very helpful. The stove in our fifth wheel starts stubborn too. I have to remind myself at the start of every summer. Patience. How does Lowe fair when the seas are high like that? The life jacket was a good idea; would you consider a tether in really rough seas?
a home is worst, it comes with taxes and neighbours hihihi, kidding. with boating comes the boat problems,. what can possibly go wrong ( a lot of salt water and a lot of systems- just kidding). Flush the tanks is a very good ideea but you can put a bigger better water filter in a more convenient location even by extending the hose between the tanks and the pump.
https://www.amazon.ca/Camco-Filtration-Compatible-Cartridges-40634/dp/B09LNFQ966/ref=sr_1_6?crid=2OB1F0JF6LE0X&keywords=camco+evo+filter&qid=1682739372&sprefix=%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-6
fishing the deep blue ocean try silver or white lure, anything brighter with 2 hooks one after another (https://baittackledirect.com.au/products/multiple-size-1-4-0pre-rigged-gang-hook-with-swivel-fishing-hook-fishingtackle.
Good luck
Mihail
Contentment is sustained…
Happiness occurs in moments!
wouldn’t you say, the family is filled with warm thoughts and good vibrations?
Goodonyas!
Delightful post. Glad most of the problems are relatively minor, and the weather has been unthreatening. Your new boat looks like it has great space for your family.
On your stove im guessing it has a thermocouple that needs time to heat up to sense the flame.Thats why you initially need to hold it for abit. Just a guess. You got balls of steel dude, always enjoy following your life. If your looking for a good audio book. I recommend Matthew McCounaugheys Grren Lights.
Glad it is going well overall. Having followed you for awhile I suspect 3/4ths of the issues you’ve encountered would have been caught before leaving if you had more time to wring things out.
Maybe. Only to be replaced with another bunch of problems. And so it goes on.
Glad you are having an easy time of it in the ICTZ. One never knows.
One of my favorite things about open ocean sailing is how the birds use your boat as a mid-ocean bus stop. They seem to know, instinctively, that both they and you are ‘in this thing together’.
One final thought. Are your water tanks aluminum, by chance? If so, I have some advice. Otherwise, I will keep my mouth shut.
****I even threw a lifejacket on for good measure.****
Blue Water Sailing — always a worthy plan.
only work when you wear them right.??
It’s hard to believe I have been reading your blog since your original circumnavigation. Although we are 20+ years older than you two your journey was quite influential in our life decisions, for example we sold all our possessions in the US years ago and have lived on the road since 2016 pursuing our active sports and maintaining a minimalist lifestyle. We established our permanent residency in Mexico and built an off grid homestead from raw land we purchased in Baja above the Sea of Cortez and live there most winters into spring, every day there is simple yet joyously rewarding. We’ve never been happier than today thanks to choices that your influence had some part in. You’ve been very generous in maintaining this blog all these years and it’s much appreciated.
And now I’m really enjoying these frequent updates from your crossing, so great to see you all living the dream together!