07 32.73’N 086 29.34’W 2139 UT
We had fairly calm seas and good winds for the first half of the day with a happy crew, full Yankee and the main up. After our delicious beans we got to eat Adam’s famous M&M birthday cake and sing happy birthday to Matt, who got a brilliant half-moon moonset and bioluminescence all through the night. The sunset got a 6.8-star rating from our captain, which is quite high.
We surfed through the night; the seas were smooth to slight (?) and the stars bright enough to guide us. After the moon set it got a bit trickier somehow to see the stars, but the Papagayo winds stayed with us for longer than expected, allowing us to sail over 200 miles. We saw manta rays, and a pod of pantropic spotted dolphins came to dance on our wake. We jibed a couple of times through the night and then sailed wing on wing in the morning before ultimately motoring with 3 reefs in the rest of the day after the wind died down. We used the spinnaker pole to go wing on wing (the pole gets attached by the “donkey dick” on the mast, and we learned that in Spanish wing on wing translates to “donkey ears,” so we’re big fans of the donkey here today.) It’s been hot, dry, and sunny, but everyone’s spirits remain high. Captain Mary’s lime Tajín papaya slices are a hit.
// Andreea
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Ladies who reef
The trade winds have been kind, rolling the boat toward Hawaii in a steady, hypnotic rhythm—until last night, when a squall hit without warning and the wind jumped to 28 knots, slamming everything sideways. With rain driving down and the boat lurching underfoot, the crew had minutes to wrestle two reefs into the mainsail and get things back under control. What followed was a masterclass in wet, unglamorous, deeply satisfying teamwork—with less than 250 miles left to go.
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A Gen Z Perspective
At 31, the crew thought they were reasonably fluent in the English language—then they met Kip. Today, the crew's self-appointed Gen Z correspondent takes over the log from somewhere in the middle of the Pacific, delivering dispatches on Milky Way night sails, focaccia-induced visions, and the singular mission of getting eleven people's "badonkadonks" to Hawaii. Consider this your glossary.