Just had an English breakfast. Janneke started feeling better yesterday and didn't puke the whole day; but my guess is that it's going to take a few days before she regains her full strength. She had very little to eat for about a week !

We're still going upwind and still to the f#$$%!& NE, kinda heading for Panama! The sailing is enjoyable though because the wind is in the low teens so the motion is good and the seas are showing behavioral improvement. The good news, if true of course, is that the forecast shows the wind veering (i..e. rotating clockwise to SE the S then SW) over the course of today and tonight which is good because we need to go south: South means more consistent winds and shorter distance to travel (and oh yes storms occasionally... and icebergs; which is why you don't want to go too far south: 42d-45d is an accepted sweet spot). Now I just have to believe that this is actually going to happen. The good thing about being as North as we are, is that it ain't cold yet. We still have some beautiful birds coming and going but not the albatross anymore.

Yesterday I made some fried rice with a perfectly fine steak (when bought) that was telling me: "I know I ain't looking too fresh but if you cook me long enough I'll be fine, or more to the point you'll be fine". So I did, and we haven't died. The steak did leave a few friends in the "freezer": the chicken breast twins and a flock of lamb sinners and maybe a couple of stowaways as well; hard to tell from the top.

I think you can hear my Pacific Seafarers Net report only when I talk to Peter who was in Auckland the last couple days (neither Jane nor Randy have the capability to broadcast the conversation on the net I think). [Actually this is incorrect; I have heard both Hawaii relays voices, Randy and Jane...(-Katy)]
I am amazed at how well these guys can hear me with my puny antenna. They have big ass custom jobs antennas that they can aim toward the station they are contacting. Figure out if Evan has a ham "rig" in mind. I know that on boats people use the Icom 701 for HAM a lot (we have the Icom 802 on board which is both Marine and Ham radio). But to talk to me he has to make a mofo of an antenna which is cheap (just wire).

How about you? it seems that you have a lot of time on your hands to study for the Ham exam which would fit well in your schedule: midnight to 6am ham study- 6 am-noon research work- noon to 4pm CVR politics - 4-7pm yoga and exercise - 7-10pm more work -10-midnight sleep with one eye open in case something else needs to be done!!!!!!!!!

As the crow flies (or the albatross glides) we are 1300nm from opua which considering that our track is the one of a drunken sailor at the end of a shore leave, is not too bad in 13 days. Another 1800nm to the waypoint (43S 120W ) where we start our long downward course towad the Horn another 2000 nm away. It's a long way to Tipperary.....