We’ve officially reached the Tradewinds and are finally sailing—roller coaster mode activated!

With the wind and waves hitting us from the side, it’s still a fairly lively ride. Speeding up the boat has helped smooth things out a bit, but we are now firmly in proper offshore sailing mode. Every now and then a wave slams into the bridgedeck or one of the hulls with such a massive violent bang that you’re absolutely convinced you’ve just run over an underwater bomb. Apparently that’s just one of the charming features of catamaran sailing…

The flying fish have also decided to join the adventure. One launched itself dramatically into the cockpit while Mark was brushing the kids’ teeth, and another kamikaze-dived directly onto my back in the pitch dark. I can confirm this is both highly shocking and remarkably smelly. Thankfully I was wearing my rain jacket, which is now pulling double duty as both weather protection and flying-fish armor.

Today we spent some time re-guiding the reef lines at the mast for the mainsail. Mark had noticed they were slowly creeping toward the foot of the sail—and as any sailor knows, anything that moves will eventually chafe… usually at the worst possible moment. After several attempts and some creative problem solving, we found a better routing and hopefully prevented a future “well, that’s unfortunate” moment.

The kids hung in there bravely today, since the motion made it hard to do much besides lie around and stare at the horizon or watching a show on the Ipad. Our official anti-seasickness treatment now involves swallowing a small cube of ginger and, for the brave ones, chewing on a piece as well. Whether it’s science, placebo, or just the stomach being distracted by the fiery taste—we’re not sure. But for the boys and me it works surprisingly well.

Thankfully no one is truly seasick—just the occasional wave of queasiness. With a fair bit of swell expected today and tomorrow, we’re hoping our sea legs show up soon. A couple of good card games and the fact that we’re finally making proper miles definitely help keep morale high.

Earlier the conditions were perfect for the Code 0, but Mark and I decided not to risk it since we were on a reaching course and flew the Genoa instead. The Code 0 is now officially a downwind sail, after all! That meant cruising along at about 6.5–7.5 knots instead of the glorious 8–8.5 knots we might have had. Still, now that the wind has picked up we’re doing great with full Genoa and one reef in the main. At one point a passing cloud delivered 25 knots of wind and I even had to reef the Genoa for a bit.

But the most important thing is this:

We are finally sailing.
And it feels absolutely fantastic.