The second part of the diaries I kept during my sailing cruise from Mexico to Panama…

Sailing Cruise 1. Day

I’m seasick. Half an hour after opening, I started to feel nauseous.. At first I thought it was the smell from the machine. it wasn’t. I couldn’t do anything but vomit and sleep all day. I feel a little better on the deck of the boat. Right now I’m thinking if I really went crazy. Well, it’s still pretty crazy.

Emre and Rupert took the first shift. It felt like they worked harder than usual because I was bad.. ‘Cause before the shift they were at the helm again. When I asked Emre, he first gave a jokingly mixed answer of yes, then an answer that he wouldn’t do it because I wouldn’t want such a thing.. It’s nice to know that I don’t want favoritism.

My first shift is 18-21.. Simon said I could rest more if I wanted.. I wanted to be in my place at shift time, even though I could do nothing but vomit.. Both for my body to get used to the order and to show that I am aware of my responsibilities.

Course 2. Day

I felt a little better on the night shift (12-03). At least I was able to steer. Steering was more enjoyable than I expected, especially at night.. People say the margin of error is greater at night, but in the open air everything seems so clear to me.. especially under the stars. It’s hard for me to lookout when I’m not steering.. I’m so sleepy. It’s getting impossible to even keep my eyelids open. I guess the secret is eating and drinking, but I have some time ahead of me.. The thought of eating right now is enough to make me nauseous.

I woke up a little bit better on the morning shift (06-10). At least I’m not throwing up anymore and as a success story I was able to eat half an apple. We found two squid on the deck.. They must have come with the waves of the evening. We threw it into the sea, I didn’t understand why I didn’t eat it.

During the watch, the American warship announced that they would conduct exercises and open fire.. Simon’s calm demeanor blew me away, but also reassured me.. Even though we couldn’t see the ship, why didn’t he contact us about being around? After checking the location he said we were quite far. Good!!!!

Simon and Oz say I steer very well. For some reason I feel like I can too but I’m not used to the old white collar compliment in me. I can’t help but wonder if they’re saying it to motivate. I hope the British and Australian sailors have no business with white collar bullshit.

Everyone but me kept talking about seeing dolphins and whales, and finally I did too.. When I turned my head to the side with the loud sound of water while holding the helm, I jumped from my place with excitement when I saw the big bodies that were jumping and jumping 100 meters away.. It was enjoyable to watch their progress by doing acrobatic movements with their big bodies.. Shortly after the change of the 14-18 shift, the reel carrying the asymmetric balloon broke off the mast. We hurriedly summoned the children who went down to sleep and collected the balloon that took shape.. We replaced it with a tiny sail.. After the balloon, such a small sail looked so funny… After a few hours of rest, Simon climbed onto the mast of the boat while I was at the helm.. It’s hard to steer an unstable boat, it’s harder to keep Simon in balance. I felt better when I relaxed a bit with the selfies she took while she was dating. Got it done without a problem. Although there is no balloon, we are still going pretty fast, we reached 12.9 knots for a while.. Average is around 7. If we go like this, we will arrive faster than we expected.

Preparing food when we can’t eat is pure torture.. I’m doing the quickest thing I can prepare without tasting it. Children flavor it with their own sauce.. Today I made progress and ate a total of 1 apple and 2 biscuits.

Course 3. Day

The weather gets worse rather than better as you go south. The waves are getting bigger, they reached 4 meters. Maybe they’re still not big for the ocean, but big for me.

When I wasn’t steering the night shift, it was hard to open my eyes. Added hallucinations. It’s not a dream, I saw it clearly with my eyes open, I gave him something, and then he became transparent and indistinct like a movie effect and disappeared.. They say people hallucinate when they’re not sleeping, but mine is probably from hunger.

We hung a 20-meter rope behind the boat to stabilize it.. It not only distorts the shape of the wave coming from behind, preventing it from breaking on us, but also makes it go straighter in the waves.

We took the balloon out and replaced it with that little sail, the rope Rupert took off while doing these was new and slippery.. He suddenly split between two fingers without realizing what had happened.. his hand is bad. Good thing we got gloves. Equipment is important.

No one has boots but me.. Emre’s feet are completely wet. I’m afraid it will catch a cold. It is never pulled when sick.

We need to turn the eggs inside out every day to keep them fresh.. Of course, I made a calendar to keep track of it.. Translator will tick.

Course 4. Day

When I was heading for the rope we were going to throw behind to stabilize the boat during the night cruise, Simon called out, I want to show you something.. He asked if you could hold the rope.. Of course, I will not hesitate to touch the rope, but it was strange that he wanted such a thing in the dark of the night.. Out of curiosity, I touched it, and as I touched the rope, the flamingos sparkled, the rope sparkled.. I turned my head to the sea and saw others shining as the boat touched. It’s unbelievable how such a small creature can get one so excited.

The weather is getting worse. the sea is rising. Simon can’t understand why the sea is so high. The boat is unstable. The water that comes with the breaking waves on us fills in.. While we were sleeping, so much water came in and at the same time the boat lay so much that I woke up confident that we had sunk.. As it was hard to open my sleepy eyes, I waited for someone to call me. On the other hand, I was wondering if I would have time to get dressed.. There was no calling, no coming and going.. I kept sleeping, wet. The plastic bags that I prepared in the first days can no longer prevent the water from entering.. We need to find another solution, it’s not nice to sleep wet.

Because the boat is old, the bilge fills with water.. Children pump water out every hour. When we first set out on the road, it was emptying with 10-15 pumps, but now it is between 40-50.. At the point where they cannot cope, they leave the job to the electronic pump.. Since the engine could not charge the battery, we had to cut it down from somewhere when we spent the existing energy on the pump.. It also became the navigation lights that must be turned on at night.. The decision of Simon, who attaches great importance to safety, to turn off his navigation lights surprised me, but also made me uneasy.. When I see another ship, the lights turn on, but what if it’s too late until we see it?

I got very nervous when I tried to sleep with a wet sleeping bag.. I can endure hunger and lack of sleep, but I want to be dry and warm in the two hours I sleep.. morale drops. Seeing that I was in a bad mood, Emre built a small tent on the bed we used in turn.. When we took out the dry sleeping bag that we packed and removed before, it became a wonderful bed.. I’m going crazy for a warm sleep.

In the morning the waves were reaching 10 meters. Wave is not a problem, I don’t like wetness. After all, my only luxury on this boat is to be dry.

Today, nutella bread has become the second thing in my stomach after apples.

Rupert’s hand looks bad. It needs to be cleaned and bandaged well, otherwise it could get infected.. That wouldn’t be nice either.

My skin started to burn because of the salt.. burning for 2 days. I clean it with wet wipes and make-up remover, apply moisturizer and sunscreen.. I hope it works.

Oz’s real name is Mark. They called him Oz because he was Australian and it stayed that way.. However, I thought they called this man OZ because he was as talented as the wizard of Oz.. I still think my version suits him better, old Oz.

Cruise 5. Day

Simon goes barefoot whatever the weather. It’s like she doesn’t even know the shoes exist. I resemble a hobbit with this attitude, but it is ironic to compare a man who will remain like Galdalf to a hobbit compared to hobbits.. When I asked him if he wasn’t cold, he said that his nickname in his hometown was “Simon no shoes”.. I guess the talk of keeping your head cool and feet warm doesn’t apply to this man, because he always has a bruise on his head, but his feet are always bare.. Simon said Oz doesn’t need to come, oh what if he told me the same thing. The shift became enjoyable in the company of Simon. He has a wide range of knowledge from Ottoman history to Turkish politics.. He is a very pleasant and knowledgeable man.. He said that one day, while hundreds of turtles were sleeping, they were passing by on a boat, and he witnessed them waking up and diving under the water at the same time.. I don’t know when the turtles’ migration season is, but I would love to witness such a thing and see the whales again.

I am still not very happy to cruise without the navigation lights on.. I admit that we come across maybe 1, at most 2 ships a day. When we see them, we light the lanterns, but it’s still a risk.

Keeping the rudder on a non-autopilot boat really tells how difficult maritime is.. Although the ancients say that a woman on the boat brings bad luck, but it may be due to other experiences.

I was a little disappointed when I heard that we were going to set sail with the calm weather, because at the end of the shift I have to wait for the others and Oz to finish their tea.. However, at the end of the 4-hour break, I was looking forward to a sound sleep.. While waiting to set sail, it’s time to meet Emre.. At the end of 1.5 hours, when Oz’s tea was finished, when I asked about the sails, they said that they would change their mind and it would be launched in the next shift.. sleep was a lie again. Anyway, I’m not complaining because I could spend 1 hour with Emre.

The hallucinations stopped.. I don’t know if the nutella bread or the navigation lights have a bigger effect on this.

The only thing I understood from this 5-day cruise is that you will respect nature.. You will not try to change nature, but to integrate with it.. Otherwise you can’t exist.

The morale improves with the sun’s shining, dry sleeping bags and shrinking waves.. there is still tiredness. I need a good night’s sleep.

Two seconds after I threw the peel of the offered orange into the sea while holding the helm, I burst into laughter when Poseidon spitting out a soaking wave to my exact spot.. It was like throwing the shell I threw back at my head.

The water ran out.. We ran out of fresh water, although I was using as little as possible to save, it turns out the tank was punctured.. If I had known, I would have used it comfortably.. My hands and nails are dirty. There are only antibacterial gels and wet wipes for cleaning.

Course 6. Day

Early in the morning, my elf eyes saw airplane fish in the distance, and then other fish I wasn’t sure if it was tuna or dolphin.. Although they resemble dolphins in shape, they are up to tuna in size.

I’m wearing a terrible tiredness. The team is totally tired. Working for 4 hours during the day, resting for 4 hours, and 3 hours at night makes the body very tiring.. If the other member who was expected to join the team had also come, he would have been working for 4 hours and resting for 8 hours now.. Everything would be different.

The wind stopped, we started the engine.. If there is no wind again, we will have to enter Acopulco to refuel.. If so, maybe I’ll get the chance to eat the pizza I’ve been dreaming of.. While I’m dreaming, I want all kinds of food, but when it comes to actually eating, I still can’t stomach more than apples.. I think I ate half a boiled potato today. Then I left it back to the sea. Feeling like I’m going to dirty the charcoal at night, trying to hold back what’s in my mouth, and finally vomiting again gave me strange feelings in my mind.

The wind stops and comes alive.. We took down the balloon they called Dave and replaced it with another balloon, but the balloon was so big that when we flexed the pole, we took it down and pressed the dave again so that the pole wouldn’t break.. It is easy to imagine how gigantic the balloon is as it pushes the mast on this boat, which can press 11 sails at the same time.

When I found old Oz, who had been working on the engine all day and was tired, lying flat on the bed with his eyes and mouth half open, I thought for a moment that he had died.. What to do if he dies? Probably should go to the nearest port and show the body. But if we ask Oz, I’m sure he’ll say throw it into the sea.

We set aside plastic and oil wastes and release organics into the sea.. I was a little shocked to see the glass and cans thrown into the sea as well.. According to Marpol, glass and tin can be thrown into the sea except in certain regions.. Is it okay dear. How absurd!

Oz disappears from time to time on the night shifts!. I’m afraid something will happen. I can’t see exactly where it is, I think it’s going to the far end of the boat. Is it peeing?

Trail 7. Day

Simon kept the 3-6 night vigil for everyone in turn, and last night it was my turn.. This means that I both sleep from 12 am to 10 am and sleep with Emre.. Sleep was so good not only for me but also for the whole team; everyone was revitalized and refreshed.. I even became the happiest person in the world when I could eat the amazing Spanish omelette prepared by Simon at lunchtime.. Long live EATING!

We keep cruising with a sail and a motor because of the wind.. Sleeping with the sound of the engine is not a problem, its heat is burning the cabin. We will stop at one of the ports according to the fuel consumed by the engine.. Simon intends to enter one of Mexico, I dream of Nicaragua. I wish we could stay in the port for two days in Nicaragua, so I could see the country I dreamed of from the edge.

The weather got very hot, there were no waves left.. During the day, we wandered around without shorts, t-shirts and life jackets.

Oz nicknamed the birds that landed on the boom “Mexican immigrants”.. Funny man that Oz!

What you’ve read so far was pre-cruise preparations. You can access the general summary of my experiences while sailing, the first and third parts of the sailing logs from the link.

Sailing Cruising – Mexico to Panama

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Sailing Logs – Part 1

SAILING NAVIGATION LOGS – PART 3