Blog by Nāʻālehu Anthony

Aloha kākou,

We had another good day of sailing weather today. Winds are still less than 15 kts, but holding steady. The sun was out most of the day, with the end of the day bringing some clouds and patchy skies. We are still pinching east a bit, waiting for the wind to go a little more northeast as we work our way north. This morning in the early hours we had Venus and a sliver of the moon, with Mercury rising to join last just before sunrise. Breakfast was granola, banana, and peanut butter. Lunch today was burritos with fake meat and real avocado. The chefs are currently making dinner. They have strayed from the set menu and are working up a concoction that should result in a stir-fry of sorts. I saw some pumpkin, onion, garlic, spam, chicken, sweet potato and other assorted menu items pilfered from various day boxes to make up the meal. I believe there will be lup chong rice as well.

We are all in full voyage mode now, settling into a nice rhythm on the ocean. Our watches lead the cyclical flow of the day as we come up on watch for 4 hours and then we are off for 8. My watch is the 2-6 watch led by watch captain Kawai Hoe. It is decidedly the best watch of the three. For one thing, as I have mentioned on previous legs, the 2-6 watch gets to see every sunrise and every sunset. For another, the 2am to 6am time is when most everyone is asleep, save the navigator and the three of us on the deck. It’s a quiet time that allows us to reflect and be present in the space. I think this time is about as close as we get to what it must have been like all those years ago when canoes were the only form of transportation across the water. The sounds of the sails being filled by the wind are in concert with the rock of the canoe on the water. The canopy of stars above us tell the ancient stories, literally showing us the way home. All of this is as it was, so many centuries ago on those migratory voyages across these very same waters. What a blessing to be here tonight.

Pō malie everyone,
Nāʻālehu

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