I chose this leg of the ACR because I really wanted to experience the Indian Ocean. I had heard so many things about her glory. Well I certainly received that and more. We had 35 knot winds Monday morning gusting to 40 with 20 foot rollers and a confused sea for about 9 hours. At times I was scared, as the sea direction against the boat was violent, once even picking the boat up and throwing her 20 degrees. So violent was the landing that one of our three jugs of water threw across the deck and broke. And then it stopped. We were becalmed with 3 to 4 knots and flat seas. The last 30 hours of my ride across were spent motoring. We arrived at the entrance to Richards bay at sun up on Tuesday with SV At Last on our starboard beam and five miles out is when it happened. I was making the boat ready for port with dock lines and bumpers when I noticed them. Two whales playing on the horizon, just off the entrance. At first I thought it was a small sailboat. Then one of them brea ched the water and then the other. I called the crew up and also called At Last to let them know. What a wonderful surprise and gift to see these mammoth whales, playing. Both Boats slowed and watched for fifteen minutes as they slowly moved north. They would raise their dorsal fin as if to wave to us as they made their way. And to top it off, a pod of dolphins followed them. With the sun coming up and the waving from the Whales, we made the entrance and concluded my 5,000 miles. I could not have asked for anything better.

This morning I woke up realizing that I have a few hours left at sea and after two months, it's a short time. I have experienced so much, both on a physical and emotional level that compressing it here has been a struggle at times. My skills as a sailor have grown, mastering new knots, sail configurations, sea states, and overcoming the occasional boat failure to mention a few. As a person, a human on duty, I have stretched beyond anything I thought were possible. I found patients where before I would have had none. I learned that being led means letting go of how I would do it and trusting the leader. I can clearly see that those that I thought needed my leadership, flourish in its absence. To sum it up is impossible. I am small in the greatness of the ocean, in the greatness of life. The importance I place on things is my own perspective of its value and not necessarily accurate, only accurate from my vantage point. I have sailed almost five thousand miles in these p ast weeks and received much more than the honor of saying, "I did that". It is a feeling of something bigger that overwhelm my being and that is what I will bring back to share with you all.

Yesterday after a great mooring of sailing, the wind died and the skipper decided to run the water maker to fill the tanks. After about eight hours of running he shut it off and we went to use the water. None there.. We discovered that the water maker filter had exploded and caused a back flow from the tanks out into the sea. So we have 5 gallons of bottled water to make due till we reach Richards Bay. The wind has completely died off and we are motoring. ETA Tuesday at noon. That's four days. We are really going to smell bad when we get there.

After making some great progress yesterday we ran into a hole in the wind where it dropped to 4-6 knots and we had an adverse current of 3 knots so the boat became unresponsive. We dropped the sails and motored for about 12 hours until we found the wind again around 2am. We are now back to sailing with 20 knots on our port beam and are looking to loose the current once we round the southern tip of Madagascar. Yesterday we lost two reels of line and gear to some big fish. One of the reels took off so fast that no one could get to it before it was gone. The rod bent so far that the eyes that the line runs through were broken off. The second one I got to and choked the clutch on the reel all the way down and it still took all of it. BIIG FISH! I'm thinking "Old man and the Sea" kind of big. We'll try again today and let you know. The Fleet is anxiously awaiting the results of the election, as I am sure the world is. May the best Man Win!

I awoke for my 0300 watch to find a building wind and breaking sea. Sally had done all she could to not get seasick again and I sent her below. The winds started at about 22knots and began to build to 30 with a following sea of about 12' and white caps as far as I could see. I reefed the main and we are now sailing with a double reef in both headsail and main and making 10 knots through the water. Known for its current the Indian Ocean is not letting us down. As we peak around the southern tip of Madagascar, we are seeing a cross current of about 2.5 knots. This is putting is at 5knots over ground. We were briefed on this and expected it, just not as soon as this. As I write this, the sun has come up as well as the wind. If it builds much more, we may pull the jib and run with the main alone. Yesterday I caught a 3-foot Mahi and we feasted on it for dinner. Hoping for a fast Tuna today.

Back at sea and having a great sail. We had a slow start on Friday with a crowded line we hung back and let everyone else go and then set our sails. The winds were 30+ and mixed seas put the weak stomachs to the test and we along with the rest of the fleet had to deal with sick crew. Day 2 was a mixed wind day with it starting as 20+ and ending at 6-10. We are making good speed and time on course and hope to make the turn at the bottom of Madagascar tomorrow morning. That will leave about 800 nm for me to complete the crossing. I have mixed feelings about finishing. I have made some great friends from other boats and love being around the Yachting people. I will miss their Can Do attitude and context of adventure and will love being back home with my family and all the accouterments of home.