Day 3: Craaazy Passage

Holy Moly! What have we indeed volunteered to do?!!!! We must be out of our frickin' minds! Hour after hour we pound, jerk, get doused with saltwater waves getting cooler in temp, huddled in the tiny corner next to the companionway, with foul-weather gear as the latest fashion. After a huge wave jumped into the cockpit and sprayed down the companionway, we now have all of our fresh air cut off below so you can imagine what it is like down in our cozy cabin with shit everywhere. We are both totally blown away that we are really doing this, after we certainly had other options to play with. We have made good progress and have only 620 NM to go, and, after talking to Wendy this morning on the SSB informal net, we are thankful for that. We are catching up to Beyond and it's so comforting to have them close by. She is great to talk to and since she has done this several times before, she reassures us that things could be much worse; can you even imagine?!!!! It is quite funny how the New Zealand cruisers play this passage down; I must say they are a hearty bunch!!!! Yesterday late afternoon we triple reefed the main and rolled up the headsail to a tiny triangle, hoping to mellow our ride; thank goodness we did that because all night the wind intensified and remained 20-25 kts and I admit that the knots in my stomach did as well. Anyone looking for a crash diet, here it is! I am so thankful I did cook all those meals and have been able to pull them out of the freezer each day, steaming them on the stove, which is pretty much all I can do in the galley. We had to turn off the refer cause it does not function correctly in these seas; good thing we have to eat everything before we arrive anyway. One more incident late yesterday has put Captain Dave over the edge and who knows how long Sidewinder will be in our family? Our port drain plugged up and the water in the gunnel began to rise. He ended up having to pull out all the pots and pans and get to the drain from inside the galley, while under duress. You can imagine the scenario; meanwhile I am taking the helm outside going through an intense squall, trying to bring her downwind more for a smoother ride. YEAH!! Again, my genius husband was successful and out he came with a flying fish! PHEW!!!! Everything down below seems to be damp and I just hope the ride mellows out sometime soon. At least we are getting winds that are more easterly so we can continue without pinching, but the waves are still mixed up and quite big and the clouds surround us. Please wish us blue skies, sunshine, gentle seas, and 15-20 kt waves and meanwhile we will continue onward with gratitude for life.  Present position: S 24 39'  E 174 30'        
Love to all, Suzi and David
   
Tried to send this earlier but it didn't go through. Our position now:  S 25 12'  E 174 17.3' Less wind but bigger swell (3m). We feel quite tiny out here! We have slowed down a bit but the wind is supposed to come back up to 25kts so I am enjoying the quiet and going down for a nap. Must keep the spirits up with rest. Love you.