Things get Better...almost there!

We are now almost at the end of  our Pacific passage. We have 2 or 3 more days to go depending on the wind and the morale on board has improved somewhat now that it appears that the boom is stable.

We are however going a little stir crazy.

Al has grown a beard and for the first time today "caught food in it!"  For some reason he seems to think that this is  remarkable. He has never had a beard before and it's all pretty ghastly...the beard and the food in it!

Who is this man?!

 A sunrise to inspire.

As Al gets more philosophical, I get tougher..managing the guys  for the spinnaker pole!

Mean squall on radar...Legend IV in the middle.

Sodden, bearded skipper watching squalls on radar.

Mean Squall on the horizon.

Sunset on our last night at sea before the Marquesas.

On a more esoteric note, I am meditating at sunrise and coming up with all sorts of profound contemplations...something like "the sea is breathing for the earth' seemed to be significant this morning but the insights been better!

Actually Al waxed lyrical in the log last night...

"WE SEEM TO BE FLYING OVER THE CRESTS OF THE WAVES ON THE WINGS OF A GREAT WHITE BIRD."

Could  the beard be altering his personality?

Every morning and evening we listen to to the roll call of the Oyster fleet and catch up with the positions and wind and sea conditions of the boats on the rally as they make their way to the Marquesas.

Several boats are very near to us according to the roll call but we have seen none of the fleet and only 3 fishing boats in the entire 2 weeks that we have been at sea.

Al and I keep a good watch at sea and  one of us is on deck at virtually all times of the day and night. We do shifts of about 4 hours on and 4 hours off 24/7.

After 2 weeks of no one and nothing out there, it seems tempting to turn on the lights and go to sleep at sundown...and to hope that other boats are keeping a good watch.

NEXT DAY
Sod's law...I stopped blogging last night in order to help Al deal with several murderous looking squalls hitting us one after the other.

The boat was sodden and being a fair weather sailor supreme, I huddled pitifully in the cockpit during my watch trying desperately to keep dry and to see what was happening out in the pitch black night.

The skies cleared for a few minutes and who should be within alarmingly close range of us but one of the other Oysters.

I called our exhausted skipper up on deck and he cursed me soundly/roundly while turning on the engine and motoring away from what he maintains was a sure collision.

A potential crisis  averted but yet another dent  was made in our fond recollections of the "float across the pond" we enjoyed back in '87,

As a matter of fact however,   when I actually got down to reading our log from the first trip, I see my perception of this passage all those years ago was completely wrong. That trip  wasn't that great  either....there is an entry in the log that states..

"WILL THERE EVER BE AN END TO THIS INFERNAL BATTLE WITH THE WIND AND WAVES! AN END THAT INCLUDES A HOUSE ON TERRA FIRMA ..PREFERABLY ONE IN CAMPS BAY PLEASE!"

Well 25 years  and several houses later, including one in Camps Bay, I can safely say that there could possibly be magical power in heartfelt wishes written in a log at sea.

I think I had better be more specific in the log in future..."SEAT 1A ON THAT 747 PLEASE!"