[password] brucelaura
[position]00.00.01N 32 05W
[status]Wednesday, February 19, 9:00 am
DAY 13 Crossing the Equator.
When sailors cross the Equator, they acquire Shellback status. Usually some sort of ceremony is involved. We're not party people so our ceremony is simple. Bruce pours a shot of good, Caribbean rum for himself and a shot overboard for Neptune. In our quest to be in the southern hemisphere when it's cyclone season in the north, and in the northern hemisphere when it's cyclone season in the south, we've crossed the Equator six times. Here's a quick synopsis :
2012 Bought Neptune's Highway in California, sailed to Mexico. All in Northern Hemisphere.
2013 First crossing of the Equator, going south. Sailed Mexico to French Polynesia, Cook Islands, Tonga, New Zealand.
2014 Second crossing, going north. New Zealand, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands.
2015 Third crossing, going south. Marshall Islands, Tuvalu, Fiji, Vanuatu, Australia.
2016 Fourth crossing, going north. Australia, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Pohnpei, Micronesia, Palau.
2017 Fifth Crossing, heading south. Palau, Rajah Ampat, Timor Leste, Indonesia, Malaysia
2018 Malaysia (no cyclones here)
2019 Malaysia, Thailand, Maldives, Chagos, Rodriguez, Mauritius, Réunion, Madagascar, South Africa
2020 Sixth (and last?) crossing, back to the Northern Hemisphere, the Big Dipper, and home. South Africa, Namibia, St. Helena, St. John.

Last night was pretty miserable with intermittent, but sometimes epic, showers. With no moonlight and no radar (our radar dome is just for the birds and hasn't worked in years) we couldn't see the squalls so we'd get slammed without warning. In daylight we can steer to avoid them if possible.
We were able to raise sails at 8:00 am, just in time to sail across the Equator, which also raised our spirits. . The silence after 3 1/2 days of motoring is miraculous. Bruce gave a heartfelt toast to Neptune and poured some delicious Malagasy rum, a break from our Caribbean rum tradition.
Winds are light , 7 - 8 from the east, but it's enough. 1925 miles behind us, 2075 to go.

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

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