By about 7pm last night the moon came up in the west, the wind continued to push Shearwater at a modest 3-4 knots and I, after setting the appropriate alarms: 'radar', 'off course', and 'autopilot', I went to bed.

Soon after, I was up and the wind was dieing. At 1230AM the autopilot alarm screamed(designed by me - you should hear it). Rushing up, I knew ...wind was dead, the autopilot dutifully but futilly trying to find direction. The surface glistened under the moon's rays - no hope - we were 'stopped'. The next 7 hours we drifted - in the middle of endless ocean, and noone, nobody, nothing was doing anything ... except the moon and the lines with their endless slapping in the mast as we bobbed back and forth, back and forth.

But today, wind has returned and we are once again doing something.