Well, we finally had a good day's run in a breeze that is starting to feel like a trade wind. We aren't entirely there yet, I suspect, but at least it is starting to feel that way.

We set the kite early in the morning and the breeze stayed steady all day long. There were the usual puffs and lulls but, hey, that's sailing! The breeze was around 13-15k (remember, our wind instrument is gone so we have to do all of this by 'guesstimating') and out of the north. We were running in the 6's and 7's all day and posting hourly runs of 6 and 7 nm rather than the usual 4-6 nm, so that is good as well.

It was strong enough to force us to bear off in a southerly direction so as not to stress the spinnaker too much. We still have several thousand miles to go to get to Seattle and we don't want to be blowing that baby up just yet, now do we? So we are babying her and nursing her and when the breeze gets up, we go down.

We took the spinnaker down a few hours early -- a few hours before sunset because the sky up ahead looked ominous. But as it turned out it was nothing to be afraid of or concerned about -- just more dark clouds. But better to be safer than sorrier, right? Other than a few brief, soft spots, the breeze has stayed through the night thus far. That is different as well, and gives me pause to wonder if we aren't getting close. Heretofore we have really struggled with a dying breeze at night. Granted, it is still soft, but at least we don't have to work so hard.

That's about all there is to report for now. We have been blessed with a really calm sea, so cooking down below in the salon has not been an issue. (I was concerned about that before departure.) The food and water are holding out well (for now), though I wonder what we will be eating when we arrive in Hilo!!!

We are both involved in a good book and keep ourselves busy the rest of the time with maintenance on the boat. Chores include washing the dodger with fresh water to improve visibility, installing a window for the connector panel between dodger and bimini so we can see the hawk easier, my 3-minute maintenance walk around the boat, and things like that. More later.