After a brief discussion on conditions, Conni and I kiss briefly and she heads below for a much-deserved rest after her midnight-to-4 AM watch. I glance at the instruments after clipping my tether into the helm D-ring, and look around me. It's 0400, 4 AM, and it's dark The sky is filled with stars and constellations that I've never seen, although our old friend, the Big Dipper, is low on the northern horizon, still pointing to the now-invisible North Star. Good-bye for now.

The wind's still light, about 6 knots, and we ghost along at 3-4 knots, barely causing ripples or the noise of passing. Makes for a great sleep, but adds a lot of time to the passage. Earbuds inserted, music selected, and I settle in for my watch until 0800, 8 AM.

About 6, the eastern sky shows the faint light that tells of sunrise to the dark-accommodated eye. By 6:30, it's getting light and the stars are disappearing in the daylight. Sun is a growing button of incandescent red, rising from the eastern sea. The sea surface is not flat, of course, but made of myriad waves and rollers. From the top of one gigantic roller, it seems that I'm looking down in a deep valley when I glance into the trough of the next roller. I'm listening to Canadian folk musician, Bruce Cockburn, and Hills of Morning and I think that I'm actually in the Hills of Morning, but my morning hills are moving.

At 7:10, I go below to switch off the running and compass lights and run into Chip in his morning rituals. While I'm ready for watch in ten minutes, Chip enjoys a leisurely 45 minute preparation that doesn't differ from one morning to the next. I smell his after shave drift to the cockpit and know that it must be 7:30. Yep! Chip the clock.

At 8, he arrives on deck and I relay the important things for him to know for his watch. Not much news. I dive below, shed the now-hot watch gear, and prepare our cold cereal breakfast. I hang my gear in our berth and see Conni asleep wearing her hearing protectors to dampen the slapping waves and sails.

Another day has begun.

We're fewer than 1000 miles from Nuku Hiva, today. As the latitude shows, we're 104 miles north of the equator. Wow! With luck, we'll be across and into the Southern Hemisphere tomorrow night.

Happy Birthday to Toby!