Aquila: "Supertanker at 37 22 north, 133 40 west, this is sailing vessel Aquila" very short delay... then in a thick Arabic accent... tanker: "[unintelligble] to the vessel calling, we have you at 6 miles away" Aquila: "Excellent, we agree. What is your vessel's name?" tanker: [unintelligble] tanker: "Do you have any other business with us?" Aquila: "Well, yes, where are you coming from and where are you bound?" tanker: "We are coming from the Persian gulf and bound for [long pause] L.A." Aquila: "Thank you. Aquila clear. tanker: "out"

This happened just before sundown yesterday, after we had seen a *very* big tanker crossing our stern. Probably 1200 feet long. While we knew we were not going to be a scratch on his bow, we were curious about where we were relative to the shipping routes. The conversation ran up against a couple of prevalent cruisers' myths. Most importantly, we learned that such boats will, at least sometimes, answer hails on the radio... and in English! And to a male voice calling, no less. We also learned that someone was on watch, and actually watching the radar. And that Aquila shows up at decent range (it takes a couple of miles for such a boat to turn). All good news, in addition to providing a few minutes of entertainment.

The westerly came back about 9 last night, and has been good ever since. A little rain blowing through, but still nice progress. Looks like there's a chance we might make in to Drakes Bay on Wednesday night. But still a little early to tell.