Powering South

0800 Position 23-51N 123-12W. Days run 188 miles

Rob put a new Yanmar diesel engine in Van Diemen during her recent refit and it has been purring like a kitten for more than a day now. It is amazingly calm out here, as smooth as Kaneohe Bay. We haven't seen more than five knots of wind since we started the engine yesterday. This calm is being caused by a shallow low pressure system just south of our position, and as we approach the low's center it has become more overcast. This morning it is 100% overcast and chilly because of it.

Last night's chef de jour was Mike Ormerod from Newport Beach. Mike took his responsibility seriously and took a few hours making us a great dinner of quesadillas and an avocado salad. A lot of that time was spent digging through the lockers to find the ingredients he needed. I posted our four page provisioning list on the galley bulkhead so everybody can see what we've got aboard. Unfortunately, that list doesn't show where everything is stored, and there was no real organization in how it was stored, so it is an easter egg hunt to look for things.

Rob had asked me to be in charge of provisioning the boat. I still have the provisioning lists from Moku pea's last two South Pacific cruises in my computer so I used them as a basis for Van Diemen's list. Lots of cruisers just head to the super market, walk up and down the aisles, and load the shopping cart with what they think they might want during the cruise. Depending upon what you are hungry for while you are shopping that day, it is a good way to overstock or understock on certain items. You also don't want to forget critical small items, like wasabi or AAA batteries, because you don't see them on the shelf, so I always make a list. The day before we departed Rob gave me his car and Bill Barsz and I hit Costco, Trader Joe's, and the local supermarket. We filled the car twice.

Rob knows that a quesadillas taste twice as good when washed down with a beer so we each were allowed one with our dinner. It was an outstanding combination.

Mike has lived in Newport Beach all his life and like Rob, is a builder. They were neighbors for many years and became good friends. Mike has done a lot of local sailing, including some with Rob on Van Diemen, but this is his first voyage offshore. King Neptune is fully aware that Mike has not crossed the equator before under sail. Heh, heh, heh.