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November 19, 1998
San Francisco to Hawaii, Second Attempt. Update #59
59. Date: Thu, 19 Nov 98 05:31:25 GMT
Latitude: 20 degrees 11.656 minutes North
Longitude: 153 degrees 45.822 minutes West
Wind NE, Force 4
Heading 240 degrees(M)
Last night on the ocean for a while, and the excitement is rising, fueled by some big seas and gusty ENE winds. Still no sign of land this Thursday evening with 35 nautical miles to go, a blanket of cloud where we expected to see the two big volcanoes of Hawaii, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, rising from the ocean. I'm overcome with the feeling that we are incredibly privileged to be here. It takes so many people who believe in us and believe in the value the expedition has for many others. The Pacific has been a great teacher for me over these last two months, and although I have to admit a preference for remote places on land to go and do my thinking, I have certainly benefited immensely from this expedition.
Sparrowhawk, sailor, wizard and Archmage of Earthsea in Ursula Le Guin's "The Farthest Shore" says it best:
"When I was young I had to choose between the life of being and the life of doing. And I leapt at the latter like a trout to a fly. But each deed you do, each act, binds you to itself and to its consequences, and makes you act again and again. Then very seldom do you come upon a space, a time like this, between act and act, when you may stop and simply be. Or wonder who, after all, you are."
So for any of you who, like me, sometimes feel like you picked your horse long ago and had control of the reins but now it's all you can do to hang on, please take time, find your space, and if neccessary for you to be really you, stop, change direction, or even change horses. - Steve
KIT KORNER - FOOD & WATER For cooking aboard Moksha, we use a Bluet camping stove mounted in the central area, fueled by propane/butane canisters from Camping Gaz. This is the same equipment we used on the trans-Atlantic and we find the arrangement very safe, efficient, reliable and easy to handle. It is important to oil and wrap the canisters prior to stowage to prevent corrosion.
Across the Atlantic we also relied on a Pur Survivor 35 desalinator for our H2O, which failed two weeks into this voyage. The backup Pur Survivor 06 has, however, worked well since then, providing us with a gallon of H20 every day for the past five weeks.
Our main evening meal for the past two months has been provided by Reliv, whose vegetable chili con carne is excellent.
Lewis & Smith,
The Moksha crew
Posted on November 19, 1998 7:56 PM