1. Elliot survived his Ocean Crossing Baptism, thanks to some hours of calm conditions between two frontal systems:
“The baptism marking my first ocean crossing started late afternoon with the sound of an air horn in my sleeping ear. The culprit was Alegra, or regarded to as “Dolphin” while on the ocean, decked out in the full captain underpants look and tugging me out of bed. Confused, I spring to my feet and follow her to the cockpit to be greeted by King Neptune, the captain and ruler of the sea, followed by the rest of the crew dressed in similar ways complete with bandana and machete. All eyes are on me as I agree to the rules and commencement begins. My legs are then tied and leashed to Manta Ray, or Salina as the land goers call her, and am raced around the gunwales of the boat dodging metal wire and playing limbo through the sheets. I complete this first task in good time, but have no idea what’s coming next. I am brought back up the bow, untied this time, and take off what I don’t want to get wet assuming what the next task might be. It was much more complicated than just jumping
in the water Neptune explains, because we are still sailing at a decent speed. I will have to be more timely than before and make it the floating rope attached to the stern of the boat before it drifts out of reach, leaving me about 30 seconds of dive and swim time. I hit the frigid water and instantly speed to the line, grabbing hold and struggle to pull myself up against the wake of the boat. When I finally make it back on deck, my baptism is complete and I am given an ocean name of my own, “Mahi”.”
2. Main sail is flying again and Pachamama got baptized by a giant octopus:
After the top of the genaker sail failed and all hands were needed to rescue the sail out of the ocean, we improvised and were finally able to set the main sail again. We closed the day with some dancing for Mother’s Day joined by dolphins. Overnight a giant octopus colored our front deck with its dark blue ink. It’s nice to see that there is still a lot of sea mammals out there.
3. Alegra’s 6th birthday on the 18th:
Frank reported good winds for Alegra’s birthday, another birthday for her at sea. She likes it wild and has already crossed 6 oceans. Sabine started to cook a birthday cake what is a hard job to do with all the shaking. It would be great if some folks could call in to congratulate Alegra. Here our Iridium Satelite Number: +881623415208
