It was a pretty tiring night for Jim and I last night. Those light, fickle winds just make it so tough. The seas slap the sails around creating a racket and then the person on watch is always having to check the hawk (wind direction indicator) to keep the boat sailing as best as possible to get us out of the hole. And with the wind instrument out, we just couldn't look down at the readout -- we had to look up at the mast head.

But then early in the morning the wind filled in and did so with such a vengeance that we were forced to tuck a reef in the main and jib. The wind instrument kicked back in about that time and so it was fairly easy sledding for a few hours. But that lasted only until shortly after sunrise when the winds ;lightened again and we were back at work. The wind instrument also gave up the ghost again, making our work that much harder.

I climbed the rig mid-morning to take a look at the masthead unit and I could find nothing wrong. But with the leftover seas from the 20+k winds just a few hours earlier, it made for a wild ride up there!!! That climb, along with being tired, didn't put me in the best of moods. But I managed. Now this afternoon the wind has started to fill in again and we are back to sailing. We are keeping our fingers crossed and praying like mad!!

A pleasant change the past few days has been cooler weather. We are actually donning coats and long sleeves for the first time in I don't know how long. It helps us with our sleeping as well.