It's enough to drive you crazy, just watching the wind instrument needle spinning like a top as it tries to find something that does not exist, the wind. It's not that I don't like to motor, I'm perfectly happy with the 40Hp Westerbeke engine purring in the background (ok roaring like a vibrating lion) but after all we are a sail boat. At the moment the main and mizzen have been reduced to vertical stabilizers as we wait for the wind to find us. It isn't just our boat that is cursed with missing wind, the VHF radio is full of various incantations and offerings from other Baja Ha-ha boats in hopes of being able to sail.

I was able to talk to my dad for a few minutes this afternoon on the satelite phone, but for some reason I'm not able to receive calls, so I'll add that to my "figure it out list". My dad did tell me some good news. It seems like a reader of this blog knows of a place in La Paz that I can get a replacement oil hose!! Hurray! I am not able to view blog comments (or the blog for that matter) when we are posting from sea. The system is set up so that I send an email over the ham radio in a specific format and it gets automatically posted to the blog. I will be looking for that comment and oil line information as soon as I find an internet connection in Cabo or La Paz and start the process of getting this leaky oil line fixed!

Right after hanging up from my dad, the yell rang out, "FISH ON"! This time we had a 8lb 22 inch Big Eye Tuna, and he will be served up with rice and wasabi for dinner. Some of the crew prefer cooked fish so I will do the unthinkable and cook a small potion of it as well. The kids got another biology lesson as we cleaned the fish. They were sad when I pulled in the fishing gear for the day. It's almost a crime to say it, but we just have too much fresh fish in the ice box!

Amy had a radio contact with one of her cruiser friends on a boat that turned out to be just 5 miles in front of us and they set up a radio chat for 1900hrs. Amy first met her when we went to the San Francisco Baja Ha-ha party and they really hit if off and get along well. There are also several boys Jason's age and as boys often do, they were playing like old friends at the Baja Ha-ha kick off party in San Diego. Most of these kids will be heading south at the end of the Ha-ha, so we will be seeing them as we continue to work our way down the coast.

The oil leak is holding steady at a slow drip, so that's good news because out of the 179 boats that signed up for this year's Ha-ha 140 actually made the start and about 10 have already had to drop out for mechanical problems. What's a small oil leak compared to some boats cracked masts, blown engines, and failed steering systems?

It might take us an extra day to reach Turtle Bay due to lack of wind and not wanting to push the engine, but in these flat sea conditions, it's not that bad.