States of Matter

Time: 2021/07/11 03:19:52
Latitude: 35-43.91N
Longitude: 173-43.23W
Speed: 4.6
Course: 325T
Comment: The wind is beginning to turn to the E, allowing us to sail more N than we have since leaving Hawaii. Looks like we won't cross the dateline after all. Spirits improve for each degree to starboard we turn. In a couple of days we should be past the High pressure and have some fine sailing with wind aft of the beam for the remaining 1500NM to Kodiak.


Yesterday as I stood in the galley something horrible caught my eye. A mournful sound escaped my lips as I slowly processed what it was that I was seeing. The family, hearing my pitiful sound, all reacted with a mix of impatience (because they are familiar with my tendency towards dramatics) and worry, "What is wrong?!. They did not yet understand what tragedy had befallen on Maple.

I slowly picked up the offending item and dramatically showed the family the saddness of the previously liquid coconut oil that was now well and truly a solid mass.

[Dramatic pause as this sinks in for all the readers!]

Yes, it is true. We have well and truly left the tropics. If the layers of clothing and blankets were not indication enough, the coconut oil was a beacon of that reality. Ella, in a flash, raced to her bathroom, to discover that her precious monoi oil that she so painstakingly applies to her hair with every wash now sat unobtainable in its bottle.

Is it too late to turn around?! After all, we are nearly about to cross the date line. Fiji is just on the other side of that imaginary line, and just a little over 3000 miles to the south. Perhaps we could make an abrupt turn and head due south as after all we have had no ability to head due north as intended. Clearly the weather gods and the coconut oil are telling us to change course. We are heading the wrong way.

No, no. It is okay. The glaciers, mountain peaks and bears are calling to us for a visit. We will adapt. After all we are hardy born and bred Canadians, surely we can survive this transition from the tropics to the higher latitudes?! After all we have also discovered that our freezer was meant for the higher latitudes. We have never seen our fridge/freezer work so efficiently, despite still being on that pesky starboard tack. Who knew it could keep things frozen so well and have the compressor not run 24/7. Plus the bonus of the much reduced draw on the battieries. It is a miracle.

So with the bad, comes the good. Such is life on the high seas. Maple continues her painfully slow progression NW. Oh how I will forever curse a NE wind. The forecast indicates that we will start to see a favourable turn in the wind in the next day or so. It should mean we can slowly start to pinch Maple's bows further north and ideally even northeast towards Kodiak.

All is well with the crew on Maple. We have recovered from the shock of the cruel realities of the properities of matter and will learn to adapt to scraping the oil out of their bottles when needed.