Crossing the Equator

The water outside is like pools of olive oil. The sky is absolutely cram packed with stars. The breeze is turned off as we transit the ITCZ, Inter Tropical Convergence Zone - AKA the Doldrums. The southern cross is in full sight.
We are all gathered in the Pilot house watching the GPS count down to 0 00 Latitude and switch from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere. It's exactly the same feeling as a new years eve countdown.
At 2300 we cross the equator for the first time. We stop the boat and drift. We throw gifts to Neptune. toast the occasion and silently each in our own way ask for protection and safe passage in the vast open waters of the Southern Pacific Ocean.