March 26: Day 14

We crossed into the ITCZ today, the dreaded “Doldrums.” We have had wind at our backs for so many days that when, in a span of five minutes, the wind went from the North to the South it was so disorienting that I had to keep refering to the compasss to remind me what direction I was headed in. I feel backwards. Along with the change in wind there was a brief squall. It was not a big deal but the wind was sudden and the seas where confused so it was a little rough. The bow sounds like cannon fire when we are beating into the waves and she smashes down. The humidity has been slowly increasing as we go South so the rain was a double whammy. Our cushions (already moist) are now soaked and our deck towls and blanckets have been splashed with sea and rain water. You would think that the rain would offer some relief but it has made our cockpit a swampy mess with the sides zipped up to keep out further rain we are drowning in steam. Once through the squall we entered an area of confused sea and wind, we jibed the boat four times to catch the wind and tried to go in the right direction but the wind would change and we would end up on a course back to Mexico. This is starting to sound like a running theme. In five hours we went three miles, then the wind steadied up and we were able to make 3.5 knotts. I was happy to be making any ground at all.