5/12/07 Wednesday Afternoon.

 Sotiris is in his own time zone.  He prefers the main meal to be at midday a la Grec so while we’re having a light lunch he is usually having last night’s dinner. Actually it’s rarely at the same time. I guess it works.

I stand corrected.  There were several flying fish last night on Nik’s watch.  They always seem to crash into the Port Helm Steering Pod and then leave scales everywhere. So we’re still in the FFZ.  We’re heard the ARC boats are also inundated by flying fish.  When we crossed in 1998 we had spectacular meteor showers instead.  Much better.

Every once in a while we take a reef in the Yankee and then shake it out again.  It gives us something to do…..Its clouding up a bit maybe we’re approaching the promised squalls.  The ITCZ (International Tropical Convergence Zone otherwise know as “The Doldrums”) has shifted slightly South possibly because of the wonderful wind we’re currently enjoying.  We should catch it up in the next two days or so. When the boat speed drops below 9 knots it feel like we’re crawling…it’s going to be a shock to return to 10-15 knots of wind.

6/12/07 Thursday 4AM

Stunning Night.  Broken cloud cover. Stars seem magnified.  A Cheshire Cat New Moon smiles at us just above the Port horizon.  The wind goes briefly to NE but then returns to ENE where we like it, still blowing 20-25 knots.  We must be doing something right.

After making the last entry I went back to the cockpit with my camera to see if I could photograph the moon, but like the Cheshire cat it had disappeared. So instead I finished reading Margaret Atwood’s “Oryx and  Crake”  a kind of genetically modified “1984” meets “Armageddon” which for some mysterious reason was short listed for the 2003 Man Booker Prize.  The Cheshire Cat came back later but by then I realized of course I would need a tripod, a time exposure and a non moving platform.

9AM

On Ink’s watch a North bound cargo ship passed within 5 miles.  So we’re not alone.

Steve has a nasty chest cold and had a bit of a scare last night when he woke up unable to take a breath except by sitting up and only through his nose. Breathing through his mouth caused the mucus to gag him.  He’s a little better this morning.

Noon

24 Hour run 208 miles. Our run up to the ITCZ will be very quick. It remains to be seen what’s on the other side. 

The moon eventually came back but was very high in the sky and not nearly as interesting as when on the horizon.  I made a couple of pathetic attempts to photograph it at least one of which makes a kind of interesting pattern. I also enclose a snap of the main use of the spinnakers of this leg and a shot of the bird who was buzzing us for hours.  We’re not really certain if it  was a Sea Hawk or some other bird of prey.