A month of Sundays sailing across the Pacific Ocean in search of French Polynesia. Why, you ask? The simple answer is that we can. The better question is, why would you? That answer is not so simple. 

A challenge is what we like. Love sailing. Love the ocean. Love islands. Love the beach and love meeting indigenous peoples. Why wouldn’t we sail 4000 nautical miles to experience those things?  

We pull the anchor for the last time in Panamanian waters. I don’t believe we have taken the time to digest what is about to take place. We are just going through the motions of preparing to sail offshore. With the help of tools, we have projected what this trip will take in time: diesel, food, and water. Sure, hope we got it right! Anything that needs to be stowed is then sails go up and life jackets on. Are we setting sail across the Pacific Ocean to the tiniest little islands you’ll miss if you blink. 

It takes us a few days to drift into a routine of sleep, eating, and managing the sail plan. Those first few days are very tiring. This starts the pattern of two ships crossing in the night. Is this how the saying came about? Well, we sail and then sleep….repeat twice a day. What day is it anyway? I can tell night from day but not what day it is. 

So, what is it really like to sail that many nautical miles in one go? Routines. We have them so that we don’t let something slip through. We are very diligent in checking for anything that could cause us to have to step out of our routine. We want to catch anything that would happen before it happens. This makes for a lot of inspecting. Did I mention that your senses are very much engaged the entire trip? This diligence is to listen for anything that sounds different, smell anything unusual, look for anything out of place or wearing, touch everything for chafing, and if it can’t be determined with the other senses…taste it. It is very exhausting to be “on” all the time. Just ask Izzy, as she is first on the scene. 

We have the daily walkabout to remove the dead flying fish and squids that didn’t make it over the bows. Then, clean the ink and fish scales from the deck. If you don’t watch Izzy, she will have a flying fish hanging out of her mouth. 

I have premade meals and freeze them for days when there is a strike in the galley (kitchen) due to poor working conditions (wave size). Trash is another piece to plan for. What do you do with it all? No matter how hard we try, we end up with so much plastic! Which is about the only thing that doesn’t go overboard. We use plastic containers to fill with soft plastic. 

Exercise…. well, you have to REALLY want to get some steps in. It is mostly 1 reef, 2 reefs, 3 reefs, jibe, then repeat. Yes, that’s sailors talk. A reef is a reduction of sail that requires much effort. I do a little jig and sing out loud to keep moving while on watch. 

How do you keep a Jack Russell Terrier entertained and exercised at sea? We play, play, and more play. Doesn’t matter how tired we are; we play. Everything becomes a game. Potty…a game, getting off the bed…a game, treating….a game, stealing food she shouldn’t have…she wins. Fish hits the deck or fish on, and it’s a vocal game. Doesn’t matter who is off shift and sleeping. It’s all a game to keep Izzy entertained. 

How does Izzy poop and pee at sea? She is litter box trained without the litter. We have a sterilite box that has a fake grass door mat in it. Just pick up the poop and rinse off. If the sea state is flat, we can leash her and walk up to the trampoline for poop time.    

Human entertainment is next up. How on water do we entertain ourselves? Read everything we can get our hands on. Sometimes, it’s even a manual, fiction or non-fiction, most of which were pre-planned. Puzzles of all kinds. Working on this blog. Doing some paying work with words, yes, it is entertainment. Then, there are a few instances when we are both awake and coherent enough to pull out the deck of cards.

I love to fish while underway. That means you drop the line in the water and only pay attention to it when Izzy lets you know it’s fish on. She hears that clicker before we have any clue. We couldn’t fish the first week as we had too much food to eat initially with no room in the freezer. When we had space in the freezer, the line went out. The first fish was a small one that didn’t require much room besides our bellies and a small amount of leftovers. We brought in the most giant tuna to date. Took both of us to get it on board. It would have made it to the funniest home videos. Then we lost a lure and a boatload of line once; shhh, we may have wrapped it around the rudder. Ford got a nice cool down in the Pacific Ocean with over 13,000 ft of the ocean below him with a slight amount of forward motion. I wanted to be the one, but I lost. All this makes the catches the most expensive free fish ever.

Wind and waves are up and down with all directions covered in a short time frame. Which causes the sail plan to change with it. Some days are hectic, and some are chill. We honestly don’t get bored, but we get restless for some actual running. 

We see no one, hear no one, and speak to no one within this month. Could you do it?