Day 21 Welcome to the Southern Hemisphere

Stormy Weather
Position - 02º20S x 132º37W
No need for sunblock - The squalls started yesterday and went on non-stop all day. We took showers in the rain using fresh water collected from the end of the boom. That was the best part of the day. It went downhill from there. Neophyte got seasick (first time ever); the boat was tossed around continuously; below decks was hot and steamy as we had to keep the hatches closed to keep out the rain and spray and the only thing we could cook was cup-o-soup.
One hand for the boat - This is a good time to comment on the one rule of sailboats under sail: “One hand for whatever you are doing and one hand for the boat”. This means hanging on at all times. If something takes two hands, you have to wedge yourself into a space where you can brace with your feet and control motion in both the forward/back and side-to-side directions. The galley is kind of set up for this. By splaying you feet, one can use two counters and the bulkhead to create a stable platform at hip level. This leaves both hands free and by swaying from the waist, you can keep your upper body more-or-less upright as the boat pitches and rocks.
Pouring hot liquids is another matter. By bracing against the sink and wrapping one arm around the vertical post at the end, it is possible to hold the cup over the sink with one hand while pouring from the kettle that is held onto the top of the cup with the other hand. So far, no one has been injured and the only spills of hot water have been into the sink.
Another interesting facet of living with this boat motion for a few weeks is that you learn where the places to hold on are. Of course, some are obvious. There are handles on the edge of every counter, handles on some of the walls and handles on the ceiling. Moving from one place to the other has two aspects. One is a bit like a ballet. With experience, you learn to wait until the boat moves in the direction you want to go and then move with it. This involves a fairly graceful flow of moves compared to the other type of movement. Type two is the “orangutan method”. It involves swinging from handhold to handhold while always having two hands firmly a hold of the boat. Even though your feet are on the floor supporting your weight, the motion looks a bit like our primate cousins in the wild.