The Eastern Pacific - Pacific Crossing Notes: A Sailor's Guide to the Coconut Milk Run - page 229

And What About the Boat?
Not every minute of an ocean passage is fun, but this particular passage had an embarrass-
ingly high percentage of good and great moments. Smooth sailing and steady winds helped
in that respect: there was little chafe or undue stress on the rigging, as regular checks reas-
sured us. One day, my big job was to replace a slider on the largely unused mainsail. On
day twenty-six, Markus got a new perspective on our little universe when he climbed the
mast to fix a weak connection in the tricolor light. Otherwise, the only “work” on the boat
was topping up our water tank from a separate cache of reserves and refilling the diesel
burned early in the trip with fuel from jerry cans.
All the boats we were in contact with complained of shaggy forests of gooseneck barnacles
sprouting from their hulls. The radio net buzzed with solutions that ranged from the invent-
ive to the insane. Someone suggested running a line under the hull to rub the barnacles off,
a recipe that brought mixed results. From the “don't try this at home” school of thought
came the plan to go overboard for hand-to-hand combat. Bruce from Adventure Bound not
only cleared the growth in this way, but even speared two fish while he was at it! This was
not, however, an approach anyone else chose to try. We went with the “ignore” option and
attacked the inch-long pests at anchor at the end of our journey.