Hello All - Here are just some random thoughts from Barry & I about our recent voyage from Hilo, Hawaii to Sitka, Alaska. We are not very good at keeping journals, so please excuse the time gaps.

Pat:
Saturday, June 28, 2003
Having just been run out of the cabin again because of the heat, I go back to my now quite familiar spot in the cockpit on the lower port side facing aft. The air mattress has been folded chair shaped and with a couple of pillows wedged around me, I am quite comfortable and stable as Pacific Voyager flies along at 6.2 knots with blue skies, white puffy clouds, and wind at 20 knots. She is heeled at a rather sharp angle and the bouncing along that usually means she is sailing well balanced also means that my handwriting is far from readable. I am munching on Barry's Cheez-its and sipping on a bottle of peach flavored water trying not to spill them both. Normal tasks on land become challenges and often events on a sailing vessel. As I look astern and to starboard, I see brilliant blue water with the sun making it sparkle. When I turn my gaze to port, all is gray and dull as a little cloud has blocked the sun's rays. Seems like many sermons on life could be written about where you turn your gaze, what is blocking your view, what filter you are looking through to see the world around you and your own life. Large white capped waves can be very beautiful from shore, but it is quite a different thing if you are on a little boat in the midst of them.

June ?, Wow !! 4:25pm - first sighting of a ship 5 miles east of us all lit up by the bright afternoon sunlight. Barry calls on the VHF radio. They answer. It is a Korean tanker headed for Korea. He gives us the weather report. Says it will be good weather to 40 degrees north. Nice man. Speaks English well. 7:13pm - played "Ode to Joy" on my recorder at sunset, then Barry held me, and we watched it together. Had chef salad for dinner.