I am writing this in Brookings, Oregon. We made it here, needing to fuel up. In an earlier post, I wrote about not knowing for sure how much fuel we were using or had because we did not know the gauge, except to know that when it said it was on reserve it was empty. So we came here to fuel up and had about 4 gallons to spare.

It was quite the ride down the coast. We had all kinds of weather. Rain and sun and fog. No wind and lots of wind.

Once at sea, we did not have a way to see weather predictions. There is no high speed internet out there. (Actually, I could have purchased that, but it was exorbitantly expensive and who wants to read the NY Times out in the ocean.) So we made our decisions based upon what was predicted before we lost cell phone service.

We instituted a watch schedule. Each of us is on watch for two hours and then has four hours off to sleep or do other activities. The boat never stops so this goes on around the clock. If you are on watch, you are responsible for making sure that there are no other boats or ships out there in our way. Also, you need to keep the skipper informed of changing conditions so that we could make adjustments as needed.

A boat at sea is always in motion. Jane and I both had a period of seasickness before getting our "sea legs". We finally ended up using a Scopolamine patch, which cured the queasiness, but left us drowsy. The plus side of this is that it was easy to sleep despite the noise the boat makes when it is rolling in the waves or going fast. And it does make noise.

We have made little nests in which to sleep on this voyage. Fred took the pilot berth with its own lee cloth (a canvas side barrier that keeps one from rolling out of bed. Jane was sleeping in the forepeak wedged in by a sailbag but the boat's motion was so bad at times up there that she eventually moved to the salon with cushions all around her. I have the quarter berth where I sleep with a big sailbag to keep me in place.

We have been eating well, heating meals that were prepared before we left. I have discovered that all of us are card carrying "Foodies", and the meals we brought along exemplifies this. And thanks to Fred's wife for sending along some delicious meals.