FIRST BIG CROSSING - Day 22

24 hour run-84 miles...boo.

Not there, yet!
This last leg has already brought some new challenges.
We've kind of had the wind taken out of our sails-literally.
First we got becalmed... all last night.
Slogging, slatting, clanging, sails and rigging...going nowhere-slowly.

And we also had our first injury aboard-not counting countless, minor, bruises, bumps, burns and scrapes.
Jon twisted his shoulder the wrong way during an unfortunate mismatch of waves and wind and lifting something heavy. It looks like he's managed to tear his shoulder rather badly enough to warrant a sling. I had to force the sling issue on him, despite much protesting and grumbling- because I happen to know ALL about unstable shoulders--and immobilization is the best thing for them.
That and rest, ice, and eating Advil like Smarties for a few weeks. The Advil we have, the ice and the rest-not so much. Jon is unbelievably frustrated (understandably), because being a Captain with one arm in a sling is about as much fun as being a one-legged man in an arse-kicking contest.

Of course, the weather turned on us a few hours later and we went from no wind to squall central. It's more of a low, than a squall-the barometer DROPPED and we got hit with one blow after another all day long. The seas whipped up, we got hammered by rain and we had 20 knots-FROM THE SOUTH. Did I mention we are trying to SAIL South? The thing with sailing is you can sail close to the wind, or away from the wind or perpendicular to the wind but you cannot sail INTO the wind. SO we head west with as much of our nose sticking in that Southern wind as we can handle. Jon is in a sling and i am learning to do all those 'Blue" jobs i usually leave to the Brawny one. I feel worse for Jon, he is in pain AND watching scrawny ol' me, sloshing around on deck doing the heavy lifting--makes him crazy.
Yesterday we feasted on homemade Thai chicken and noodles in coconut sauce and tonight...it's get-it-yourself-cold cereal and crackers.
Such are the joys of cruising.
The GOOD news is, we have 318 miles left to go.
Please, let 'em go easy!

KAI and HUNTER:
Thanks everybody for all the emails and for reading the blog-cool to know you are following along.
We may not be able to answer every question today but we will get as many as we can and cover any we missed tomorrow...
So...

What do we eat?
Kai: 
I don't know. Food. When we aren't crossing an ocean we eat a lot of stuff we get from the sea, like fish and clams. oysters. scallops, lobsters. I fish for all of those either by free-diving or using scuba and spear fishing. I also like to fish from the dingy but I have better luck with the spear gun. There will be a lot of sharks where we are going next, so I will have to learn new ways to spearfish and fish than what we did in the sea of Cortes--there are not so many sharks there. I usually learn how to fish from the people that live where we are going. One thing about fisherman is they love to teach you how to catch fish their way.

Hunter:
Out here at sea, we eat Lots of canned and dried goods, things that we made ourselves and canned before we left.
Canning yourself means we put stuff in jars instead of cans actually-it tastes way better than store bought stuff and its better for the environment-because we don't throw away cans like, Tuna fish. We just caught fish before we left and cooked it ourselves and then you use it the same way you do stuff you buy in a store-only you can reuse the jar again.
We have to sink our trash in the ocean out here so we try to make as little as possible.
In the past three weeks we have made only one tiny bag of trash for 4 people.
My mom usually cooks really healthy but fresh stuff only lasts so long-about two weeks out here.
We make our own bread and yogurt and sprouts and stuff and we grow spices. My favorite kind of meals we have on board are lots of pastas and stews.

Do we get scared of falling in?
It is the thing my mom freaks out on us the most about and always has. She has ONE rule on board above all others-do NOT fall overboard.
There are procedures you go through if someone was to accidently fall overboard but honestly, out here, your chances of getting back on the boat would not be too good.
Its not scary though because we know how to act and how to move around in different conditions. When it gets really rough- we don;t go on deck and Mom and dad use their harnesses and clip into safety lines that run the length of our boat.

Hunter: we also have a rule that if you are going to go forward of the cockpit you ALWAYS have to tell someone.

Did everybody want to go on this trip?
Kai: Well, i did. I was totally excited. I get sea sick on the beginning of all of our trips but it goes away after a day or so and then I feel great.

Hunter: Yes and no. I was scared to go on this trip but now I would do it again.
Its way more fun than it is scary. I don;t get sea sick ever so I don't worry about that part.

DId we do a lot of planning and preparing for this trip?
YES!  There was SO SO SO SO SO SO MUCH stuff to do before we could leave.
It felt like it would never end. It is WAY easier to sail across and ocean than to get READY to sail across one. There was a ton of work to do-we helped with all of it from fixing the boat to shopping to helping mom can stuff. We also had to do medical stuff and get shots and things for all the jungles and places we will be going.
Well, that's it for now.

Oh yeah...
Hunter: I am reading THE SISTERS GRIMM SERIES. I just finished book 9 and i absolutely loved it.
I also sew a lot out here. I even made my own dress, and the pattern and everything, all by myself out of an old pillowcase.

Kai: I am reading GAME of THRONES-I am on book 4-it's really cool. There are a lot of characters and my favorite parts are about the stuff that happens on the Wall.
I mostly just read, sometimes I watch movies but mostly read, help sail the boat and do chores and fish. I have been really unlucky with fishing lately though. I can't wait to get closer to the islands where hopefully there will be more fish. Once we are back to anchoring and cruising i will fish everyday.

Why we have to be very careful about trash: