Current conditions: Wind/weather - NE 20+ knots, overcast and sultry Sea state - Seas churned up, swell 10' Boat speed/course - 5.5 knots. 180 degrees. Sail plan: jib and storm trysail

So far, so good - sort of. We are on the northern edge of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), and conditions are not as bad as we had expected...not yet anyway.

This morning, we made our way point almost exactly. We were navigating toward 12N, 125W, and we hit 12N, 124 59.48W; it's pretty easy with a GPS and the right wind direction.

So, Thursday night, last night, basically stunk. The seas were churning and pushing us from side from to side, but the motion and noise down below was far worse than in the cockpit. Every time a wave smacked against the fiberglass hull, it made a sound like a collision, and I've never heard such commotion coming from the inside of the boat lockers. Things were not just shifting, they were lifting. At least it wasn't raining, and the waves were not tall enough to breach the cockpit coaming. All and all, it was better than we had expected.

Steen felt the change in the weather about 4:00 pm Thursday. Malou and I were in the cockpit playing with 'claydoh', as she calls it. We went below, I sent out an email, and was in the process of making some rice krispie treats when Steen called me up to help reduce sail. He took down the staysail and we continued on with jib and dbl. reefed main.

For some reason I decided to make an omelet for dinner, but after the beaten eggs tipped over and proceeded to seep into the icebox lid, I gave up and we had chili; and Steen was kind enough to make a stove top cornbread.

Friday morning, after speaking with weather expert Don Anderson, we decided to change course and head due south down the 125 W longitude, so after sailing for fourteen days on a starboard tack, we made our first jibe. There is currently a weather disturbance at 9 N, 125 W, moving west at about 9 knots, so hopefully, we will pass just behind it. Both Steen and I would be surprised, however, if we did not hit some rainy squalls tonight.

We will have to unplug the SSB radio, while sailing through the thunder storms. So there may not be any email for 2-3 days.