Hey there all. We are now a few days out from French Polynesia making our way north to Oahu. Very pleasant day sailing conditions so far. Warm and sunny with winds ranging from 12-18 knots and averaging 6.5 knots boatspeed. The days are getting noticeably hotter the closer we move to the equator (the fact that I haven't gotten a haircut in quite a while isn't helping things). Looking forward to the occasional rainfall as a way to cool down. The night shifts have been interesting the past few days. I don't know what it is about once the sun goes down, but the weather seems to like to act freaky once we are all in bed. We have winds that drop to almost nothing then gust up to 30 knots (happened to dad last night). We also have front systems that race across the horizon and then just stop dead right over the boat and dump rain (happened to me last night). If we were closer to any land I would be tempted to say it has to do with the differential rates of cooling (thank you "Oceans and Atmospheres" class at UCSB). However, there is no significant land formation for thousands of miles sooooo..... i'm baffled.

Anyways, can't really complain too much, most of the time it is pleasant. On another high note, once we get to Hawaii, there should be the option for MEXICAN FOOD. I can't even count how many times I have caught myself dreaming of a burrito. Nothing out here is as great of a challenge as going cold turkey off of Mexican food.

All is well here and we are slowly but surely making our way north.

-Gavin