Day 18 to FP - Routines

:lat=-20.21:lon=-128.47:
Time: 0030UTC, COG 250T, SOG 4.5kts, Distance Remaining: 419nm

What do you do all day, every day, for 21 days straight while being in the
middle of the ocean, with nowhere to go? I'm sure many of you wonder about
this. I asked myself that question as well, before we left, and answered it:
I would do many things I usually don't have time for or has less priority. I
would read books and magazines, I would write (many ideas are waiting to be
put in print), I would bake some great and unhealthy desserts, make bread,
yoghurt and other food, stare out over the ocean for hours, and try to spot
wildlife. Oh, and take care of Irie, of course.

Reality is far from that, what with being totally exhausted and having the
boat roll underneath you all the time. A friend suggested in an email that
being on passage for so long must be similar to being in a remote anchorage
for a while, having the time and desire to cook many different dishes among
other things... No, not at all, for the reasons mentioned earlier. and,
there is a lot to do to keep everything moving. Literally.

Mark and I are not the kind of people in favor of, or executing routines.
Far from it. But, on this trip with precious hours of daylight and long
nights split 50/50, one needs to have some kind of a schedule. Ours is as
follows:
6:30am: Mark gets up and we adjust or change the sails if necessary
7:00am: Liesbet goes back to bed for a couple of hours, Mark wakes up, has
breakfast and does some computer/navigation stuff
9:30am: Liesbet gets up, does some chores inside the boat, has breakfast,
takes over the helm, Mark might take a nap
11:00am: lunch - the big meal on passage - is prepared
12:30pm: lunch is served and we eat together
1pm: clean-up
2pm: Mark takes a nap, Liesbet does some writing - blog and emails off line
4:30pm: Liesbet stays in the cockpit, while Mark sends previously written
emails, and grabs the weather and new mail through the sat phone. He does
some routing and weather plotting. We both read the emails of loved ones -
always the most exciting part of the day - and do a log entry (Mark
electronically, Liesbet in a logbook). We are either disappointed or
ecstatic about the daily distance covered. Liesbet marks our position on a
paper chart of the Pacific Ocean; every day we move about a quarter inch
5:30pm: we have a small dinner (meat and veggie sandwich usually)
6pm: we adjust or change the sails for the night
6:30pm: Liesbet goes to bed and Mark does his six hour night shift
12:30am: Mark goes to bed and Liesbet takes her six hour night shift

Note: the further south we travel in this hemisphere, the longer the nights
become, so some flexibility is required.

Usually, there is a central "event" every day. Depending on necessities,
moods and energy levels, we also take care of the boat, her sails and her
course, do some extra cooking, fit in some cleaning and laundry or squeeze
in some extra rest. Just like our surroundings never change and seem
infinite, our routines are pretty much the same every day. Talking about a
monotonous life... :-)