Pacific Crossing, Days 5–6. And Another Torn Sail

This isn’t the Tasman Sea! we thought—and our motto, not a day without adventure, instantly kicked in. Our old mainsail, which had gone around the world through the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties and seen it all in Antarctica and the tropics, had already decided to retire back in Polynesia. “What?” we asked, and refused to let it bow out right there among the islands. Instead, we spent a solid week repairing and patching it. And now, glimpsing the easy life of an ocean passage in the trade winds, the mainsail began tearing again, the rips creeping through the fabric around the patches we had sewn onto it. We had no pretty patches left, so out came old yellow scraps of sailcloth. And our handsome sail ended up looking almost like the one belonging to Kevin Costner’s character in Waterworld. Very similar indeed. We even have the same sort of pet aboard—except we have two, and both are more fearsome than his lemon: a carrot from Australia and a soybean from Polynesia have grown into battered, world-weary shrubs, and we won’t part with them (if they survive) until Vladivostok itself. Today, while we were sewing the sail underway, both pots toppled onto the anchor rode we had laid out to dry, sprinkling the entire stern with clay soil. We sewed like mad. Standing up, sometimes unable to reach the sewing machine’s foot pedal, yet somehow managing to press it while it dangled sideways by its cord. The machine skated across the hatch cover in the heavy swell, and we swayed in time with it, trying to get at least some semblance of a seam down. A hundred and fifty seams. Then it started raining. The machine was hurriedly hidden under the sail, while the soil had to be smeared across the deck’s teak with a toothbrush and wipes. Lada sensibly withdrew to the wheelhouse to clean up, while Nastya wriggled out of it by claiming she had to make dinner. We’ll continue oil painting with our young sailor tomorrow. For today, it’s a TV series to give our brains and nerves a rest. Over dinner. Life goes on; we’re heading west. Vladivostok is getting closer, but it is still 12,000 kilometres away. There will be no stops. We’ll arrive in Russia in about two months, thoroughly gone feral. Though right now, being without the flood of news is actually rather nice. We continue towards the completion of our second circumnavigation. And sailing it in the trade winds is such a gigantic contrast to that first circumnavigation through the Southern Ocean! A holiday resort. If it weren’t for the old sails and the stress over what is happening back on the mainland, it would be an absolute dream. Take care of the land, friends. We’ll keep an eye on the ocean. Hugs! And thank you to everyone who writes kind comments. Special thanks to everyone who contributes to the expedition’s ship’s fund via PayPal and YooMoney Guys, is Lady Mary’s location showing on the Route tab? That displays the track from the MVS Telecom RockSTAR Iridium 360 tracker. Transmitted by satellite communications from Day 6 in the ocean, coordinates: 11°57′ S, 158°38′ W.