Read on to hear about a clever new game, happenings on deck, and of course the latest sailing progress update from our favorite Trilogy crossing crew!

crossing log

captain katie 11/4 - Days 11-16

We’re still here, chugging along.  The scenery remains the same, ocean as far as the eye can see and very little in sight.   As of this writing, we are on day 17 of our journey across the Pacific.  We have covered 3,843 miles total, as today we crossed into the 10th degree of north latitude and are just shy of 140 degrees of west longitude. It’s the small victories that really keep morale up these days aboard our trusty Trilogy IV. For example, this evening we will have only 999 miles until Hilo - UNDER 1,000! :)  To show our excitement, we already plan to blow the celebration whistle – which is a big deal, of course.

Another small victory to share… we all discovered a new favorite past-time during our journey, which has proven to bring some fun entertainment to our days: shooting rotten food overboard with a sling shot!  Last night’s activities included “skeet” shooting, with Shaw yelling “Pull!” while Denver tossed a rotten egg into the sky and Shaw attempted to strike it down with a rotten Brussel sprout.

On day 13 we (finally!) got our first sunset of the voyage, and it did NOT disappoint.  On Maui we describe that type of sunset as “fire in the sky”.  The prior days had all greeted us with severely grey, gloomy skies, sometimes even to the point that we couldn’t differentiate the water from the sky. So on day 13, seeing this scorching fire color felt like a real treat! On days 15 & 16, we had a change of pace with some seriously hot weather, which made us instantly all regret complaining about the cold weather just a few days before.  And just as our original fish stores were almost depleted, Kai caught another Mahi! We all cheered as we filled our stores back up, ensuring we can all enjoy those delicious Mahi tacos at least six more times.

Since day 16 was hot and calm, we took advantage of the situation and prepped as best we could for when the sea-state picked up.  We transferred the rest of our fuel, refilled our water tanks, and swapped out the working jib for a larger genoa sail.  This new sail (which is actually Trilogy I’s old sail) ended up granting us a big advantage as the trade winds showed themselves today, allowing us to gain some great speed. We have been moving around 11 knots for most of the day, which is slightly higher than our average so far during the crossing.

An example of a genoa sail is to the right, for reference! Thanks to Mirto Art Studio for this helpful diagram.

Besides our routine watches and the day 16 preparation for upcoming “adventures” at sea, our days have been filled with loads of excitement (ok, well at least SOME excitement)! Here are a few fun occurrences that have helped entertain us in the last few days…

1. The day Denver accidentally stepped on a squid and it shot ink all over his foot and the deck.

2. My deceptive culinary skills, when I managed to dump enough butter and sugar on top of regular ears of corn to make it pass as “cornbread” for our chili.

3. Kai, wearing his Trilogy uniform every day (even though it’s not required), giving us ample joke fodder.

4. Shaw unfortunately suffering from a bought of nausea for several days, only to realize (thankfully) that he had been eating eggs that expired 6 months ago - GROSS! But we’re all happy he’s feeling better. :)

Other than that, it’s been lots of movies and lots of books helping us to pass the time.  Hopefully, these winds hold - or even improve - and we will be able to happily report our arrival to Hilo in just four days from now! Until next time…

Edited by: Cyndie Ellis