Well, the honeymoon period is over. On my electronic chart plotter I have a compass gauge that shows the direction I should be going in, and the source of the wind. Having them the same for the past 36 hours mean
progress is very slow. The winds are up to 20 - 25 knots and the waves are on the nose as well. The sun has disappeared, rain is frequent and I am imprisoned in the cabin digging out more clothes and watching as I slowly
go North and West (wrong way!). I shall remember days 3 - 6 fondly.

On day 6, my fishing reel went zinging out, so I grabbed the other handline to bring it in out of the way. That caught someone's attention and suddenly I had two fish in play. I managed to land both after some time, and spent
most of the day cleaning up after. Both are mahi-mahi and meal one was delicious. With that much fish, meal #10 might be a little repetitive, but it was a lovely catch. During the clean up I noticed two freighters headed my
way. Not having seen a boat for a coon's age, I find I had one 2 miles north and 10 miles south. What are the odds!

I am edging around the Pacific gyre garbage patch and am starting to see bits of plastic. Not a good sign. We all know the garbage patch exists, but it is sad to encounter it personally.

A few minor breaks and one major. Little things like the dinghy hold down strap broke, still can't find the home for the screw, the wind vane is acting up again, and I have to tighten the bolt on the hydraulic steering daily to
ensure it doesn't fall apart like on the last passage. Those are all minor and manageable.

The big problem is my jib furler has fallen apart. Without it, it will be very hard to use my jib, and that will slow me down. For the moment, I have the staysail and main up which is okay in high winds (15 -25) but for calmer
weather, the jib is important. I spent most of the day rolling in the jib and securing it, studying the problem, finding some bolts that might help and contemplating my options. The two links that hold the furler down are twisted,
and to get them out I have to take off the nuts holding the forestay on. I have decided to wait for quieter weather and will probably drop all the sails. The twisted links are ¼ inch thick stainless steel so twisting them is not
going to be easy.

I still have the spinnaker and stay sail to play with so this is a real set back but not a disaster.

On a landmark note, today I passed a point where I have equal number of miles to go north and east (1067 nm). Not sure if this is significant, but there you have it.

Thinking of you all at home and beginning to wish I was there!