Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Best Day Ever

I think we are figuring out sail trim on a ketch; George, the windvane auto pilot is treating us really well (he even steer us through squalls); and we are still on course. The sun came out today, there may be stars tonight! So far we have had only one clear night, and a few nights where the moon peeks through dramatic clouds creating spots of light on the ocean.

Thanks again for all the encouragement, especially from you office bound ones. There's no place else any of us would rather be. All systems continue to be highly functional and if there is any "breakdown" the crew is so skilled we get the thing problem solved and fixed within about a half an hour. We hot wired the engine to get it started. We recarpentered a bunk shelf this afternoon.

We have cleaned everything on the boat but ourselves; it's been a bit cloudy until today, when we started sailing without our foulies, even when it's raining. And we love the rain! Shadowside handles high winds (25 to 30 knots is the most we encountered) like a champ, with a real easy, rolling motion.

Tonight or tommorow, sun showers!

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Favorite Bill Murray movie

7/19 Our halfway party was dinner with ribs, chips, and champagne. We toasted to a 1000 miles of sweet sailing and 1000 more to the finish. Hawaii is really far away. The weather continues to be overcast and a few squalls have blown through, but nothing too dramatic. We have all gotten into our watch routines and can shorten sails at a moments notice. Jorge, our Hydrovane self steering system is my favorite thing on the boat. Alejandro and Kathy like to hand steer on their watch. I prefer to snack. Living in a small sailboat with strangers you run the gamut of conversation topics. We have gone through all "best of" or "favorite fill in the blank" questions. I wouldn't want to be with a different bunch of rag tag crew. Kathy is hysterical with crazy travel and sailing stories and ALejandro continues to be the international man of mystery and is our go to guy when we need any help with anything. Captain is calm and good humored even when we accidentally gibe the main violently. We are looking out for j and having fun.
Shadowside is chugging along on a 255 COG at 7.0 knots over ground. She is a sturdy, heavy boat and I feel really safe when the wind picks up. The seas have been 10-12 rollers that toss the boat 30 degrees to port and then back to starboard, sometimes so steeply that my stomach drops. The rest of the fleet seems to be much farther North than us, but we are making good time and might even rank!

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