"The air is so wet you could almost drink it." A phrase from a book I used to read to the kids about a house that floated out to sea on a very high tide, floating far and wide before eventually returning home. Thick moisture laden air has settled over us, endlessly, tangibly reflected in the light of my headlamp. We've been having a wild ride these last 24 hours. Surfing down big waves, stalling and then rushing on again. A 16 knot surf for the record books. And now there is nothing...and we are motoring again, trying to figure out the best angle to Cape flattery. We have been heading more East to avoid the worst of the low to the North but we have to be careful not to get too far East and then have to beat North into a strong Nor wester. The highs and lows are changing constantly so one plan is often quickly superseded by another.

A few minor dramas yesterday.... Naomi was sweeping the saloon floor, her chore for the day and I popped our Mexican wool mat outside just for a brief moment. It was at that brief moment that a freak wave with a mean streak decided to swamp our cockpit with seawater, drenching our nice dry cushions and of course the Mexican rug. A short while later, another crew chore related problem arose. Cameron was doing the dishes and his water supply fizzled out. Well, clearly this is simply a case of changing water tanks and moving on. Sometimes, as was the case this time, that doesn't work and then Tommy has to get rid of an airlock in the system and the problem is solved. This is actually quite a frequent problem because the noise on the boat drowns out the noise of the water pressure pump grumbling on with no one paying it any heed. This time, however when Tommy went to open the floorboards he found a bilge full of water. Our worst fears were quickly assuaged when the taste test revealed it to be fresh, not salt water. It looked as if it had been slowly filling up over the last 24 hours. After pumping out all the water, Tommy, handyman supreme, replaced the ailing pump with a new one. The flooded bilge stores all the root beer and ginger ale, a sometime sundowner treat for the kids which they had omitted to have the previous evening. Had they indulged the leak would have been picked up far earlier. The moral of the story, according to Cam, is NEVER miss pop for sundowner's.

So as I said, minor dramas. All is well and safe on Phambili, we are simply waiting patiently for our wind and maybe a bit of sunshine to return.