Day 2- Seasickness Sucks

Time: 1500 Zulu (noon PV time)
Position: 19-deg 17-min N 108-deg 15-min W
Wind: NW 0-5-knots Seas: Mixed, Confused 2-5-ft
Steering: 235 T at approx 4-knots
Rig: triple-reefed main, 80% jib
24-hr Distance traveled: approx 95-nm

After the first blissful day, the past 24-hrs have been rough both literally and figuratively. Just after the last post, Shawn spotted a cargo ship rather close. As the computer and GPS were already on, it was a wonderful AIS moment and before she could take a second bearing, the computer was telling us the closest point of contact would be 4-nm. It was also a success as Shawn made radio contact with the ship and they confirmed they saw us (though only after being asked to check their radar and told where we were relative to them...) Then the winds picked up and the sea state in turn became quite unsettled. The day continued with mixed confused seas of large size, too much wind, not enough wind. Wrangling the 100% jib down in the middle of the night in the large seas... all the while feeling nauseous, both of us. Chris especially, but Shawn too has been caught crawling out of the bunk or coming up from below doing dishes looking grey and had moments where she thought she might get sick. It's not so much the motion, it's trying to focus or do anything while being tossed to and fro. Chris keeps remembering a single-hander-circumnavigator saying that "sometimes you'll hate it and wonder why you're doing it, that's normal". Shawn keeps thinking "slow and steady wins the race."

Chris has been wonderfully persistent, even through his seasickness. He's been continually making calls to try new things to change the motion of the boat- different points of sail, different sail configurations, the engine, the windvane, the autohelm, middle of his off watch sail changes while tossing the seasickness meds in his stomach overboard etc. This morning we checked in with Don Anderson and he encouraged us to make it as comfortable as we could while still making westing- that this area around the Soccoro Islands is always mixed and uncomfortable as we are still in the lee of the Baja peninsula and therefore experiencing seas from the Sea of Cortez meeting with the Pacific. Everyone that has done this section reports that the first few days are quite difficult, so we will continue to keep ourselves as hydrated, fed, and rested as possible and move slowly and steadily with deliberate intent to try to sail through this area into the steady NE winds. Poco a poco (Little by little).