** Some glitch with sending...you may see this entry twice.

Winds SW at 14, making 7.6 kts with light swells. Overcast, but some sun. Air is 59F and water is 55F. Very peaceful night last night. Buzzed by a twin engine plane this morning.

As you can see, and much to our satisfaction, the liferaft is still secure on deck as we approach our landfall. So the "toasts" that were made upon leaving seem to have been heard...."keep the wet side down". It's interesting to me the way the raft is labeled......"Survivors Raft". Not sure how to read that. If you've survived the sinking this is your raft? Or, if you consider yourself a survivor, get in? Seems to me it should have been called, "Wannabe Survirors Raft". There tends to be an assumption of "no problem" if your boat should begin to sink at sea and you have a liferaft. Just jump in and snuggle up, right? Wrong. Many don't inflate once deployed, or folks forget to tie them to the boat and they immediately blow away or turn upside down. So, it does provide a safety net, but it's a small net; plus, what you see in the photo is a "six man" raft. I'm not sure what tailor fitted this raft, but I prefer a looser fitting .

FYI, this is one of the best rafts made....that was nice to know.

It would seem that our thoughts of survival can be put aside now; it's almost in the bag. Also, we're all still friends, we may have put on a couple of pounds, and it looks like my hair is going to grow back.

I'll probably post a few more entries before it's over. Thanks for following along and for the moral support we've received. It has been most gratifying.

Stay tuned.

Wayne ....aboard Wiki Wiki (approaching Europe)