Tuesday, November 26
Squeaked by on that one! Day 15 was 100.1 nautical miles. We started in the low threes and made it up overnight, totally different from the first days when it was high wind afternoons and easygoing nights.
We’re not changing the onboard time to account for our change of longitude, so the sunrise and sunset are both around their respective 8 o’clocks. It’s odd, but it is a good fit for how we divvy up night watches.
That means my clocks all say it’s 1342, but the sun hasn’t reached its zenith. I’m caring because of a strange project I have going on, something I’ve never ever done before…tanning.
I’ve enjoyed some sunshine with a bathing suit on, sure, but getting a tan wasn’t the point. And since getting tattooed, I’ve been protective of my ink. In general, whether I’m biking to a wage-slave job or sailing, I get enough vitamin D.
There was one thing I wasn’t thrilled about in Tantum, though. I wanted to do more snorkeling. I got worried about sunburn pretty quickly because, functional tanner that I am, the fronts of my thighs are much darker than the backs. When I’m cycling, my calves get brown too, but that’s been a long time now…two and a half years!
So yeah, I’m stripping down and lying athwartships in the cockpit for ten or fifteen minutes a day. Today was my…fourth day? Or fifth. Anyway, here’s hoping I don’t burn or don’t burn as badly once I’m doing the good snorkeling.
Coconut milk soup with vermicelli is so very easy and pretty damn yummy. Now, it’s no tom kha because it’s waaaay too simple, but I can add complexity as I have access to things like lemongrass and fresh ginger (or ginger smush) and roma tomatoes and cucumbers and whatever else tends to go in those soups.
Wednesday, November 27
Uneventful night, but quite starry. The breeze chilled me a bit, but it wasn’t actually cold. Put me in the mood for oatmeal, though, and being out of eggs I went with sweet: milk powder, chai masala, honey, craisins, and butter. It was delicious!
Noon position: N 15° 15.296’ W 05° 18.235’
Distance noon to noon: 97.9 NM
Average speed: 4.08 kn
Trip distance covered: 1536.1 NM
Distance to destination: 623.0 NM
