Ask Abby

Hey everyone!
Things have been going well today. I've had some nice wind for a good part of today though its just starting to die down. I got a bit of a shock last night. I saw a ship for the first time in at least four or five days! I just saw it on my AIS and it was 86 miles away, but still, I guess I'll be seeing a lot more now that I'm close to shore.

I should be into Cabo sometime tomorrow afternoon. From the comments it looks like there is a bit of confusion as to how this affects my attempt. I'm not going to be a non-stop stopper. One of the rules of a circumnavigation is that you have to cross the equator twice and since I'm north of the equator still, I can just re-start from Cabo. This will mean that my voyage will officially end back in Cabo.

Also, with the timing and weather windows and all that we had been concerned, but with my weather router's guidance we will take each leg one leg at a time. I almost certainly won't go south of New Zealand but will go north via the Tasman Sea.

My mom sent me a list of questions from you guys, so I'll do my best to answer a few of them.

1. How do I wash my clothes?
I don't get to wash my clothes very often, but when I do I do it in a bucket.

2. Do I use Sailmail?
I don't use Sailmail. Sailmail goes through the Single Side Band high frequency radio. The coverage for that system isn't very reliable in the southern ocean. I have Inmarsat through my Thrane & Thrane Sailor 250 unit. That is how I get online, write blogs, check email, and all that.

3. How do you carry enough water?
I have a thirty gallon water tank and a water maker so I can fill my tank whenever I need to.

4. What kind of cameras do you have on board?
Most of my cameras were sponsored by Gopro. They're really awesome little things and we have them set up in water proof cases. They are also called point of view cameras becasue you can put them on your head or your chest and film what you are doing while you are doing it. I also have a Canon video camera (thanks to Samy's Camera) that isn't mounted for video blogs and pictures.

5. How do I keep from falling over board?
I wear a harness whenever I'm on deck and if I were to fall off, Alan Blunt, the rigger that was working on Wild Eyes, set up a system for me to get back on board. If for some reason that didn't work I have a hand held epirb (or PLB) that I keep with me all the time when I'm outside. This was loaned to me by Dr Daniel Chen from Microwave Monolithics. Check out his link on my Sponosr's page. His design of PLB (personal locator beacon) is used by a lot of government officials because they are so powerful and reliable.

6. What kind of music do I have on board?
I have 50 gbs of music on my ipod, so there's a little of every thing.

7. Who is the little girl in the picture on my nav station? (the picture is on my Facebook for anyone who hasn't seen it yet)
She's my little sister Katherine. I was thinking of bringing her with me... but I don't think she would have liked being in my little boat for so long :)

8. Do I have an anchor?
Yes, I have two anchors. You never know when you might need one!

I think that answers just about everything for now, but please feel free to ask anything and see the Ask Abby page on my web site for more answers to other questions.

I'm still working on figuring out my cameras but I'll try and get some pictures on the blog soon, maybe some video too!

Abby