We are just about midway through our third day of the passage and we have seemed to have settled into a routine. Life is now divided into three hour segments of "Watch" and "Off Watch." Each of us stands a three hour "Watch" during which one of us is responsible maintaining course, making small trim adjustments on the sail, and in general maintaining an adequate visual and radar watch for other boats, while the other is "Off Watch." The most important responsibility of the off watch is to get enough sleep to be sharp and focused when coming back on watch.

Everything else gets figured in around that. I stand the 0400 to 0700 watch. This watch change is very quiet with minimal exchange of info: "Anybody else out here?" "Any change in the wind? "Anything else going on?" After a brief exchange, I cozy into the pasha palace and the Captain takes the watch.

By 0930 Kurt makes the coffee and I start putting together something for breakfast. The dogs come up into the cockpit now that it's day time and we talk about what happened during our overnight watches. We talk about the weather files we download via satellite and what it will mean for our route. I take over the watch from 1000 to 1300. In addition to sleeping and grooming, each of us have some projects we are working on and we squeeze those in where we can. Kurt's project today was running the water maker, successfully filling our tanks with 49 gallons of fresh water, made from the ocean water around us. We try to make any major sail changes at the beginning or end of a watch so as not to disturb the off watch's sleep. But you'll get no complaints from me if I'm awakened out a dead sleep with, "WE HAVE WIND!" and I need to hustle up to the cockpit to help change a tack, add or reduce sail.

The most festive time of day is between 1830 and 1930 when we listen in to the Single Side Band radio to hear from the other boats in the rally. Sometimes we can hear them very well even though they are hundreds of miles away. Sometimes we can't hear them at all. But it is the only show in town and we aren't going to miss it! This is also when I make and serve dinner. Tonight's dinner was beef stroganoff with hot buttered corn and Big Frisky's best Arni's Junior salad with a redo of the big fat yeast rolls I made a couple of nights ago. The dogs all come below as its dark outside and we all share just a little bit of time hanging out.

Which brings us to now. I am trying to finish up my blog post so I can catch a little nap before my 2200-0100 watch. Hopefully this gives you a little insight into our typical day.