Did I mention in an earlier posting that there were long hours of boredom in a voyage of this nature - well we haven't run into any of those as of yet. The first days at sea at least for me have certainly been a Baptism of Fire! We are now 400 miles out.

We have been battling 25-35 kn winds skirting the gales, surfing down 25 foot waves with the occasional wave breaking into the cockpit. We are standing six-hour watches in pairs and because it is so violent below, the only safe place off watch is in your bunk. I am certainly happy that I took the trouble of building in the extra handholds below.

There is no room for error. You must plan out your short trip through the salon carefully noting the handholds, timing your lunges between swells. The stove is gimbaled and on a crazy angle, and it is the only reference as to what is actually level as opposed to the rest of the boat. Fortunately we have a harness that straps you into the galley so that you don't have to worry about flying around and impaling yourself on some unlikely pointy object!

Telltales is performing admirably. She was built for seas like this and shows her stuff. Other than the odd wave that she buries her nose into just for a taste of the sea, she rides the crests like a top. Now and then a big wave hits her and she shudders, then shakes it off and carries right on like a real trooper.

During the day, happily ignoring the sea state, we are often visited by groups of dolphins who swim in the crests of the about bow waves giving us the eyeball, sometimes jumping out of the water just as if to give us a show of their athletic prowess. Storm petrels surf the waves all day long in their endless search and the occasional albatross looking bird cruises by although I know it is not an albatross because it is somewhat smaller.

Night watches are a bit deceptive without visual reference to the surrounding environment. You cannot see the horizon or the waves approaching. Your main reference is the feel of the wind on your face and the swell below you - knowing when to brace yourself or turn away from the approaching seas to avoid the spray. Even at night you are aware of life around you as you see flashes of phosphorescence in the wake behind the boat.

The "saltiest" of the lot is most definitely Heather - surefooted like a cat, she can move above deck and below deck with impunity. Her 200,000 sea miles are also obvious in her observations about need for sail trim. She is rigid in need for keeping the sea log and I have been designated the keeper on my watch. Heading, latitude and longitude, COG (course over ground), wind direction and speed, sea state, temperature and barometer reading must all be duly noted. All this is important information when we download our weather files every day to determine our position relative to the synoptic isobars and the weather ahead of us.

We have signed in on the SSB (single side band radio) with the Pacific Maritime band and they are monitoring our progress as we make our way. Last night we talked to a guy in Australia who noted our position. There is surprisingly no traffic out here and we have not seen any ships on our AIS within 100 miles.

By the way - did I tell you that it is a blast! It is all that I have expected other then the long hours of boredom advertised in the original brochure.