On 22 Feb, 8 adventure seeking crew members stepped aboard Sea Dragon and set sail from the stability of Hawaiian land for the persistent seas of the Pacific Ocean. A strong welcome from the Pacific to Sea Dragon was appreciated by only 2 of the crew members whilst the others decided they didn’t want dinner the first night anyway, but did result in a very quick bond between all crew as to who frequented the bucket on deck the most. The hardy seagoers were not deterred by the Pacific and her generous welcome, and very quickly all members settled into the watch system of 4 hours on, 6 hours off. Eventually the Pacific calmed her excitement allowing the crew to develop their sea legs by day 2.
Culinary excellence was experienced with every meal with fusions of Hawaiian classics and British family favorites. There were many incredible sunsets which were enhanced by the spinner dolphins who kindly showed us the way to land and assured us we were indeed heading to Christmas Island. A few other guests frequented the boat including 3 boobies, who hitched a ride on the bow whilst surveying for their next meal, and many flying fish who were so eager to say hello that they even landed on deck.
As we approached the Doldrums, the expectation of minimal wind did not happen and we were greeted with squalls of +30knots of wind, brilliant weather for some downwind sailing and wave surfing! Crossing the international date line caused a bit of confusion when we all realized we were now one day ahead of Hawaii even though we were due South of the land. It means we get an extended day whilst sailing to Tahiti, similar to a ground hog day but thankfully (/sadly?) this one will end!
“Land Ho” an excited crew member shouts as we’re able to see the smudges of palm trees coming out of the sea. Sea Dragon has carried us 1200nm south from Hawaii to Kiritimati Island, an atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We arrived at our anchorage and pick out the best spot for all the sites we’d like to see over the next week or so. Once anchored and freshened up with a sea dip, the next hurdle is immigration to allow us to go and explore Christmas Island….