NOON POSITION 23:03.56N 23:29.33W

Aurelia
Shirley and Michael Webb-Speight
Sat 16 Dec 2006 16:16
We passed 500 miles at 1pm today. Has been a good days sailing with smoothish seas, around .5 metre waves. todays drama included a blocked toilet so Mike and Oliver dismantled, cleared and cleaned that. Joy. Mike still recovering from that effort. The non-return valve was crusted up which is why it was syphining water a bit, so good to get that sorted. The pipe was also very crusty with salt build up from the Med, it is reknown for doing that and eventually crusts up the pipes completely.
Saw the first dolphins of the trip today, big variety -bottlenose- my kids tell me, with babies too. They didn't hang around long.
Am now convinced I have enough food on board to get us straight home to NZ. The trick is to eat the fresh stuff before it goes off and managing all of it is an exercise at a lean! I just love cooking at a 45% angle it is so much fun.
Night shifts are going well and the adults manage a kip during the day. The kids are still learning to stay quiet first thing in the morning and now have a right foot impression to remind them for tomorrow. Their days consist of books, puzzle books, electronics and once every couple of days a movie.
The genset is going well, we are being very conservative with power, water etc to safe guard the battery. Water conservation going well and dont seem to have made a dent in the first tank of water.
Adult days consist of watches, sleep, food prep, galley clear up, watches, sleep and fixing minor disasters like booms springing loose from the mast.
Still haven't reached the trade winds yet, should be there (or they will come to us) in a couple of days.
love from the crew on Aurelia.