Monday, June 13

The first order of business for me tonight is to say thank you to everyone who wrote in, and I am going to answer each one of you, at least briefly here. We can also discuss in deeper depth the planning questions, and visits etc. in future blogs or by personal email. Elisabeth is sleeping right now, but in two hours, she will come on watch, and she will answer the "Just Ask Lizzie" section.

Now, it's been a great day. Cold, to be sure. As I type, I am wearing sea boots (those wonderful Zhiks I told you all about) and heavy Carhartt socks. One pair of Patagonia light Capilene long underware, one pair of Musto heavy fuzzy long underware, a Musto light long sleeve polypro shirt, a Patagonia long sleeve heavy Capilene shirt, a fleece sweater from Germany, and Musto HPX foulie trousers in case I need to go outside. I am mostly comfortable. I got a little chilled this afternoon when I was reading, so I sat with the sleeping bag on my lap like you see people on the decks of cruise ships in the movies. The weather is grey, fog and cold. The wind is mild, between 15 and 20 from our starboard quarter, so we are broad reaching. Very comfortable. We are spotting lots of ship traffic now. We "see" them on the AIS, as it would be impossible and very dangerous to be out here with out that help. The visibility is well less than a mile. With the AIS, it is easy.

Now to address your comments. Elisabeth. Hello from the adventurous twosome. You warm our hearts with the kind and caring things you say. For us too, it is like having you here when you comment on the stars and the good dogs. Thank you for that. We are thinking that maybe you might think of an Alaskan visit with us. We intend to winter the boat in Seward, so that is where we will be before too long. Might be great fun, and you don't even need a passport. At any rate, we should think of having you up to the house when we are in California. Please think about it, and consider this a serious invitation. By the way, yes, the stars at sea are unbelievable. There is no light pollution whatsoever, and there is the Milky Way, Zillions of stars, star clusters so thick, you are tempted to thing of them as clouds. When, of course, you have a clear night!

Catherine. Please give our best to Ants and Jane. We miss them. You asked about radio skeds. Nope. Just us. We do have a friend who does weather routing for us, and we call him once a week on the Sat, phone. (another very valuable and beloved piece of kit). We have some friends who just left Japan for Alaska, and when they get closer, we will try and talk vis the SSB. But no formal skeds. A compatable cruising couple can survive this. I must have given the wrong idea, and i apologize. This voyage is a challenge to be sure, and I have fun joking about our conditions, but I have to stress, it is a joy for us. We love meeting the challenges, and are making memories that we will treasure forever. We feel that we are doing something very special and grand. Some climb Everest. Those climbers want to survive, of course, but you know they do it for a deeper personal reward. That is why we are here. If we wanted easy, we would have flown. Elisabeth and I are growing closer every day. We laugh and take great pleasure in our acheivements out here. Our Everest. Our personal space flight. Our Alaskan Odessey.

Karen and Jan. I apologize, but may I continue tomorrow? This is getting really long, and I need to keep it reasonable. But, I will! Be Excellent to Each Other! Rod and Elisabeth,

"Your Rock and Roll Argonauts" "Les Pirates d'Honneur"