Wednesday, November 24

Day 6,

Things absolutely couldn�-t be better. Well, there was that squall that washed our decks last night just after sunset. Dinner was an excellent chili followed by cookies, and the boys conducted a star gazing session in the cockpit before the moon�'rising a little later�'poked its head above the horizon. Off to the east, a gray cloud bank loomed, with ominous horns towering skyward. Below it, a glow appeared and brightened as the moon appeared briefly, looking like a cottage all lit up on a nearby lake shore.

Then things went dark again, just the tops of the clouds glowing. At water�-s edge, we could see the well-defined bottom of the storm cloud approaching, with rain lines silhouetted in a menacing way. Peter, Bob, and Ulf remained on deck and made sheets ready to fly, just in case. The battle plan: furl the genoa should things go south. A good ploy until they did and the furling line jammed. Thankfully, the gusts were short lived and only in the 40-knot range. A little luffing saw us through, and then it was off to the races on the new breeze, with decks fresh-water squeaky clean.

But let me get back to the couldn�-t-get-better part. Tuesday the trades held strong all day as we clipped along under double-reefed main and genoa. It was Day Five and we were all falling into the routine of this particular voyage. With no sails to change, or really even trim, most of the crew spent the morning in the cockpit, gabbing about hairstyles and shipboard fashion. Then after lunch, one by one, people headed below for a nap (I�-ve sent along a photo of a typical snooze fest). Mid afternoon found a three-way game of cribbage in the cockpit. And at 1530, Philip took the day�-s run: 162 nautical miles! Another gutes etmal, as the captain likes to say.

If all holds well we should see the first island in a day or so. I couldn�-t help but think on watch last night, as Orion passed from port to starboard of the masthead, that before we departed, our destination was what we thought about. Now, I�-d be content to just keep riding these trade winds. Why rush to get to land? What we do and see out here is what we came looking for in the first place. Landfall will come soon enough.

This post is made possible by Iridium and Global Marine Networks.