So I'll take you through the day, if I remember. First I must admit I allowed the men to take the entire night shift while I shifted around in the back cabin bed with only one squirmy boy. Toni abandoned us last night to the front because of a scuffle she had with Dad ("I will NEVER cuddle or sleep with either of you EVER again!" translates to "ahhh, more space for us tonight"). I schlepped myself to the galley and created granola out of muesli mixed in with some oil, honey and cinnamon over a flame. This stuff gets inhaled so I can't make too much of it.
I then gave it a break before I knew I must find the energy to create something special for our 3/4ths arrival. So I made ice cream, which turned out delicious but basically tasting like melting and refrozen icecream, which is better than no ice
cream at all.
I then proceeded to make hummus from chickpeas and tahini, which ended up garnishing our falafel and pita bread gorge this evening along with the last fresh tomatoes and chinese cabbage, which lasts much longer than lettuce. So food has been plentiful. With four more days to go, I figure we might keep it simple the last days, but I'm determined to keep the fresh stuff going to the end. We still have a melon, potatoes, a few lemons, onions garlic ginger and a few heads of cabbage. You do what you can with what ya got.
Winds are strong and steady from the east and the seas are rough. If you sit outside you can watch the breakers creep up on our stern like a gigantic hand ready to whack us down the street. The lack of sealife since the dorado has been palatable, although Antonia spotted an albatross today, my first seabird of the passage.
The kids still play like there's no tomorrow. I've been trying to stagger out surprise gifts to break up monotony, and then I cursed myself for having chosen fair weather toys. Today for example I broke out the dominoes. Neither of the kids had played with them before, but with the boat rocking and rolling like this it's hard to play with such things. I wish I had brought a library of read along cassettes. They love their Dr. Suess ABC cassette and book. What we've been doing is actually recording me reading them a story, and I have a whistle I blow every time I turn the page. So we are upping their repertoire of these read along cassettes that way.
Every day we have a wonderful talk with our friend Jerome, who will be awaiting us when we arrive in Tobago! It's so great to hear his voice and know he is where we'z gonna be soon! Over ten years ago, Jerome became a close friend when we burnt out the old Pangaea last time we were in Scarborough (the story can be found under www.pangaea.to/earlier, then click on Atlantic). We nicknamed him "the Inspector" because he would come down to the dock to see how our progress was coming along.
Right now we hope to land in Charlotteville, the Northeasternmost anchorage on Tobago. It'll be sooner than we all think!
XOXO Erika and the aboard Tribe
13 41' N
50 51' W
599 miles to go!
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