Latitude 12 Longitude 167. Somewhere on the South Pacific Ocean Sailing Day 6 280 miles northeast of Apia, Western Samoa

This would have been the evening of our targeted arrival in Apia, had the god of winds seen fit to provide sufficient winds to propel us there. For the last 3 days since reaching latitude 10-12 S, we have been intermittently pummeled both day and night with large and small squalls, some creating sudden 30 knot wind gusts and occasional pounding rain, during which time we would very rapidly reef the sails and depower the suddenly �"possessed�" boat. After 10-30 minutes, the squall would pass, leaving behind a vacuum of zero air movement for the next 1-2 hours, or until the next squall appeared. At least one of these resembled a Texas �"norther�" front line on our radar screen (see pic). Then, sails back up, motor back on to compensate for 3-4 knot winds on our nose that would eventually follow these squalls. In between the squalls, the ride has been lovely, with a trailing sea, a colorful kaleidoscope sky punctuated with dramatic cloud formations, stunning sunrises and sunsets, along with myriad rainbows, sometimes multiple or full 180-degree arcs (is it humanly possible to ever be desensitized to Pacific Ocean sunsets?) All that beauty did not change the fact that the coveted downwind stayed in the 6-10 knot max range for much of the last 3 days, not even enough to fill our spinnaker sail on one attempt. Each passing day saw our target arrival date get pushed back more. The crew is getting grumpy (at least this one) with cabin fever and a desire to walk on solid ground. The days are passed with reading, moving sails up and down, cooking ahi tuna, wonderful curries and homemade breads, moving sails up and down, eating, napping, meditation, occasional guitar serenades by Shay and moving sails up and down. On the plus side, I certainly have become a lot more proficient (a relative term) with handling the sails: raising, lowering and trimming 3 lines at once. It has actually become a fun activity to look forward to. With our stores of fresh fruit and vegetables (and, importantly chocolate) depleted after 24 days at sea in hot and humid tropical conditions with one malfunctioning freezer, the crew is now surviving on papaya, limes, coconut water, and yes, even breadfruit gifted by the lovely people of Penrhyn. Staples like rice, lentils, quinoa, potatoes, (yes, even canned green beans and chipotle peppers) still abound, however, rum stores are DANGEROUSLY low. (maybe diesel too- food for the boat in the absence of its preferred diet-wind!)

You can tell I am getting a little psychotic, so I will stop here, after I tell you about our visitor from the skies (NO, not a UFO). At 730 pm last night a lovely brown bird circled the bow, clearly looking for a place to land. I shooed him off, fearful of a yucky deposit on our deck, but he/she was not to be deterred. She landed just in front of the helm window, circled around several times, found a cozy spot and made a bed for the night. Undeterred by the squalls which nearly blew her off the deck, she remained there throughout the night, refusing our offer of a bottlecap of fresh water (did not seem to care for the wine either�...just kidding). I worried that she might be ill, but at 0830 this am, she flew off, only to return one hour later to the same spot�...out to breakfast? I am figuring she does not have enough wind beneath her wings to fly. Poseidon, Neptune and all gods of wind willing, we will be in Apia by midday Saturday, hopefully.