Hi Y'All,

I want to tell you about the most amazing sailing ever!

Due to a lack of power to run the autopilot as we are conserving for the other power sucking systems, like refrigeration, the essential service of the ham radio, and of course the water maker, it has been necessary to hand steer a good part of the daylight hours.

The "why" of why our 6 solar panels can not keep up (clouds add to the issue) is beyond the scope of this email. Haha, sounds so technical- and it is.

So on to the more exciting and fun part. Because the generator (back-up power source) is on the fritz after being worked on in great detail for 5 weeks in PV by someone who supposedly knew what they were doing, the lack thereof has led us to spending turns hand-steering while we are in daylight hours to maximize the storage of power to run the autopilot for the night.

That, as well as the many boat duties including weather collecting, analysis and route planning as well as preparing food, eating and cleaning up, some sleep and that about does the routine at the moment. Chuck also spends a lot of time analyzing and fixing/maintaining the various systems that keep the boat working.

So daytime hand-steering has become the joy of physical oneness with the Katie G.

I liken it to fall line skiing through the biggest moving mogul field.

There is no rest as the mogul field is endless, it just keeps rolling on, no chair ride back up folks!

Some of you know how it takes thousand of hours of skiing To get to that sweet point where you are one with the run. Well, today, I reached the point where the balance board of the deck under my feet, the wheel, the swell and I became one. After hand steering the last 4 days, I found the fun of lining up the point of sail (direction), the sail set (currently wing on wing - one sail out to each side) and the fall line movement of running along the bottom of the swell (like a mogul) and turning back up into the anticipated next swell before hitting the trough (so essentially skiing the downhill side off the moguls on this moving surface).

So I want you to know how exhilarating it is.

If you can't relate to the skiing comparison, perhaps your most amazing day with any sport . I know the oneness one gets with your horse, or the day on the golf course that is just a flow through (not that I have had that-lol).

You all know how much I love to dance and after I tuned in, I had BB King playing through my Bose headphones while surfing these beautiful but tiny swells - between 6-9 feet, I am guessing.

I don't do it justice.

The water, the sun playing with the surface bringing an infinite amount of diamonds to play on the surface, the sound of the waves crashing , sometimes against the boat, the wind in the rigging.

Oh yeah, wind is anywhere from 12 - 18 today so lots of speed but nothing uncomfortable- the SWEET RIDE as they say.

Well folks, will leave it at that. I hope you are all as well, happy and healthy as we are. We know we are living the dream and so very thankful. Huge hugs to each and every one of you,

Karen and the sleeping captain, Chuck ( it is currently 4:00 am)

PS: Tomorrow is another day- so LUCKY!!!

Forgot to mention the amazingly stunning Full Moon we are enjoying. So light that we can see the same as by day! Soon it will be gone though and then we will wait for the sliver and watch it develop. Mother Nature in all her glory is being witnessed with this experience.