a first and long night

babelfish
tony zwig
Sun 15 Apr 2007 00:45
31:34.2N;121:30.15W
Hello All,
Babelfish is now many miles from shore. We have been sailing along at over 8 knots mostly in winds blowing from 18-25 knots. This created some large swells and many things to do on the boat.
Thom was surprised in his bunk by a wall of water that came in through the dorades. He was yelling he had asked not to be woken up with cold water. Later Tony got water in the same way . We think we have closed these air holes and solved the problem. Richard has been carrying a bucket for a bit of a while but is coming round. Robert is his normal effervescent self, except when he wants a bandaid or polysporin for his baby finger. He said thats what he puts on at home. No "no name " products
for him. During the night we managed to bend out of shape the top of one of the winches and in the process almost sever our 2nd reef line. We (:Robert) has come up with a workaround and we have asked Alan about replacement.
The seas are calmer than yesterday. It was good to get away from the California coast because they are having bad storms now; that we have avoided. We are learning about the boat as we go. Today we started making water. Quite incredible really. Now I sound like Thom.
Last night's watch team saw a freighter 5 miles away; otherwise we seem to be alone out here. Daunting if we think about it alot. The boat is very fast. We have passed our second waypoint(destination for the navigation equipment ie gps) and are aiming for the first out of Jimmy Cornell's book. Everyone is in good humour and doing their bit. Tony's dotted sheets created quite the scene. We had a beautiful sunrise this morning; caught it just as it climbed from the horizon. No dolphins today.
yours,
Babelfish