Position: 41 14.0000'N: 150 43.0000'W Distance covered in the last 24 hours: 138 miles Distance to Cape Flattery - 1168 Conditions: 18 - 20 knots of wind out of the SW, 10 foot swell and gray skies and pessimistic patches of blue.

It was a bit of a long frustrating night as Mother Nature had not quite synced up all of her elements out here. The wind was rising but was variable in direction and strength, there was about a 2 foot wind chop and 6 foot swell. All three of these factors were completely out of sync making the boat roll in all directions and the variable wind meant having to do numerous sail changes. About 3:00am the squeak I mentioned yesterday reached an all time high and was so bad that I turned on the generator so I didn't have to listen to it.

In the morning light I could get a much better idea of what the wind and swell looked like and decided to also alter course so that I could sail wing and wing. For you non-sailors that means the wind is directly behind you and you have one sail on each side of the boat. I rigged the pole up to hold the genoa out and then set the boat on its new heading. What a difference! The ride is smooth and the course is aligned with the swell direction so almost no rolling. The wind has also increased enough to align the wind waves with the swell. I am now sailing 7 - 8 knots with a heading that points me directly at Cape Flattery and the best part is that the squeaking is almost gone.

I think I brought way too much food for this passage. I had never provisioned for one so I was not sure just how much I would eat. I spent the first 4 days of the trip eating nothing but fruit that seemed to ripen the moment it came onto the boat. I know I bought green pineapples but by day two they were all ripe and had to be eaten. I still have lots of fresh vegetables that I bought at Costco. In fact I think someone needs to look into just what Costco does to its vegetables to keep them ripe for so long. Everything I got there looks the same now as it did when I walked out of the store. Bread is always the first thing that has disappeared on past passages but I am still on my first loaf and have three more in the freezer. The freezer actually has more food than when I started because of the fish that I have been catching. My kids are reading this and I am sure they are groaning thinking they are going to have to eat fish and Costco chicken for the next month.

I have two more birds that have joined me for the trip. These two are much smaller and are funny to watch as there is absolutely no grace to the way they fly. They are all over the place and seem to be able to stop in mid air and change direction. At night they stay very close to the boat and are quite chatty.

I have added a picture today. Before I left my good friends Michael and Cheryl snuck on the boat and placed a container of my favorite ice cream in the freezer. So as part of my half way celebration yesterday I broke out the ice cream and had an afternoon treat. Today is also Michaels birthday so Happy Birthday Michael. Wish I was there with you to enjoy a little of the goose.

That's it for today.

Scott