We had a slow day yesterday. Overnight the wind died, the swells were still high, its was so foggy that we had trouble seeing the bowsprit, and it was raining. 73 miles, but it felt like a lot less. Having no wind was the worst, the boat flops around with nothing to steady it. Almost made me seasick again.

Today was the trade off though. When I woke up from my morning nap Jamie was sitting in cockpit walking around with no shoes on. It is getting warmer, slowly, but the signs are there. We also got to use our new spinnaker pole for the first time today. This pole has a good story. If your not familiar, a spinnaker pole is a long aluminum pole with closing jaws at both ends,12.5 feet long, and is used to hold sail out from the boat that they might catch more wind. First of all the jaw ends of the pole came to us some time ago as a wedding present from our friends John and Beth. We have been carrying them around for almost 2 years now looking for an adequate pole to mount them on. In searching Stanley high and low for an aluminum pole I was about to give up when our sailing friend from the Falklands Richard told me he had such a pole and that I could have it. The pole is actually an aluminum pipe whos former life was as a sign post in the Falklands. A little dirt and a few scratches, but it was a little too big. Not a problem in the Falklands, a place where people still know how to use what they have and make things work. I took it to an local machinist who had already helped me repair our roller furler and in half a day he made 2 brass bushings that fit in the pipe and held the jaws so well the whole thing seems it is of the same piece of metal. Wha La, spinnaker pole. With all the down wind sailing we have ahead of us I think this pole is going to be a big help. And Im pretty sure its not going to break.