It is a big day in every sailor’s life when they cross the equator for the first time. Then they go from being a pollywog to being a shellback. Traditionally there’s a whole ceremony around it where they have to ask King Neptune to cross and offer rites as thanks. We skipped all that as we are children of the God most high, the creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and the dry land. Instead, we all followed the GPS closely when we were approaching the equator. Once we hit it, we all jumped in the ocean!
The winds were light, and with the sails up we were moving slowly. We trailed behind the boat on a rope, enjoying the moment. When I got back on board I discovered that we had sailed up against the wind and had crossed the equator again! I changed course back to south and we crossed the equator a third time. Why not do it three times for good measure.
Our crossing of the equator happened quicker than I had anticipated. My original plan was to go north of the island of Halamahera and work our way south towards Raja Ampat from there. Instead, the winds forced us south of Halamahera and our plans were completely changed. We were only two days out of the island of Tifure when we crossed. We had sailed overnight with our new rudders and I had found some small islands just south of the equator to anchor by. Therefore we only had another hour of sailing until we could rest and relax. It was time to find a different route to get east towards Raja Ampat.