Hello World,
This is Matt. We’ve been sailing for ~53 hours and have had a lot of fun. I personally have learned how to use a sextant! After much trial and error (time is something I have plenty of) I have successfully located our position using the sun, sextant, a watch, and books! My location was within 15 miles of the GPS. For anyone curious/wanting to waste time, I highly recommend going on a wikipedia tangent to research celestial navigation, sextants, and spherical geometry.
In other news, Jackie cooked her first meal from scratch today (with my help). We made banana pancakes using 3/4 cup flour, 1.75 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, ground flax seeds, 1 egg, and milk (Vermont maple syrup on top of course). Unfortunately several crew members were sleeping so I had to eat most of the pancakes. Don’t worry, we brought way too much cereal.
While we didn’t listen to any Jack Johnson in the galley (kitchen on boat), we do pretend it’s the weekend every day here in paradise. It’s been great weather, kind of calm seas, and I got to see glow in the dark dolphins!
As my last comment I regretfully admit we have not caught any fish. We did almost catch a few birds… Apparently a trolling lure looks pretty appetizing to birds out here. We had to abandon fishing for a while until the shearwaters lost interest.
Hope all is well on land!
-Matt Johnson
St. Martin -> Newport 
Had I known there would be pancakes – I would have made the trip!
I know everyone but me knows why the dolphins are glowing in the dark but could you give me a little info on that??
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On my first night watch, at 3am Dana and I saw a pod of dolphins. They were difficult to see until they swam through enough phosphorescent jellyfish (moon jellys). Then not only were the Dolphins glow in the dark but they left behind trails of glow in the dark spots. It was spectacular!
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Am I missing something? No bananas in the “Banana Pancakes”???? Flax seed will keep you all healthy though!
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Great update, Matt! I have never seen a sextant but read about them in Buckley’s book – interested to learn how they work!!
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Love the update and love the photo!! Melts my heart, you two are so cute!! Keep the posts coming. Pancakes sounded delicious Jackie.
Xoxo Aunt Deb
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Hi Matt,
Bill friend of Dana. Congrats on the celestial. Always reminds me of my Dad who taught me celestial just as GPS was arriving. My sextant has not seen the sun in awhile. Caught a seagull once. Horrible. DOA and stank to hi heaven…
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Hi! This is Katie, Dana’s niece. I love reading these updates and living vicariously through your adventure! Sounds amazing so far, especially the glowing Dolphins! Stay safe and enjoy yourselves! Tell Uncle Dana the Canina’s said hello please! 🙂
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hi Katie – this is Dana – thanks for following us and please give my love to all the Canina’s!
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So enjoyed this update! Thanks for sharing so many wonderful details. … imagining some of the fun,thrilling, and yummy delights via these entries. Clearly, expert sailing and a gift for writing are a shared family trait!
Jackie, the unsung hero, thanks for the unending task of sustenance. Big hugs to Cam, Liz and all of you! Xo
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Thanks for the thrill of the Sail. Your wonderful descriptive posts transport us into the moment — Nearly as good as being there! Chef Jackie gives delightful, nutritious menu ideas, keep them coming. We appreciate the frequent postings! They keep Dana’s mom and dad relaxed! Love and safe sailing to All!
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Oh the pancakes !!! I told jordan and he can’t wait to have Matt make them again for him one day 😉 sounds so wonderful and it took me this whole week to figure out how to comment!! Ug lol – sending lots of love Auntie Susie 😘😘😘
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The moon jelly/ dolphin sighting in the dark sounds amazing! Reminds me of a scene from Life of Pi. I am so glad you are all documenting your thoughts & experiences as it makes for a wonderful travel journal, which are my favorite to read! Thoughts & prayers are with you all. Hugs!
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