The kids are turning into very helpful crew members.

The boys are doing watches during the day, each is on for 30 minutes and then they swap. We have an alarm prompting them to look around and check the course etc. every 10 minutes. This has been nice for Mary and I, we have been using this to keep them busy as well as free us up to cook and rest. Today, we were actually able to take a nap together in the cockpit. I say nap, but it was really just a chance to cuddle together, tied to the rail with second tether to keep from being pitched onto the cockpit floor when the boat rolled crazily. We both managed to doze a bit.

Yesterday, Timothy did not want to do his writing assignment and was given a choice of hand steering or writing. We had our own private helmsman for nearly the entire day until he resorted to a solid 45 minutes of hysterics and banging his face on the wheel until the lenses popped out of his sunglasses. (Does this remind you of the story of him jumping out of the sailing dinghy because he was so mad?) After a lengthy time out, the writing took him less than half an hour. Too bad, because we were right on course and screaming along at 6-7 knots with him driving.