20 Years Ago Today -- April 12, 1996 -- Day 4

Fri. 96-04-12 - Day 4 - 20° 07' N  108° 26' W  Log: 179nm

My 34th birthday. Up at 1600Z. Still not quite over the odd feeling (kind-of queasy) in my stomach, which is irritating. Sorted through some rotten vegetables (altready).

This afternoon, started reading Robert Ludlum's Bourne Profecy, which I expect will be quite a good read. Had a 3-hour nap in the afternoon.

John cooked a birthday dinner for me. BBQ steak (turned out to be really thin), broccoli and salad. He also baked a chocolate cake for dessert, and had balloons and everything. Really nice!

My first night watch (0200 - 0600Z) was peaceful, but frustrating sailing all night. We sailed towards Orion until it set, with the bright silver reflection of Venus on the water just to the North. The wind was really fluky, from 2-8 knots from SW through NW. Boat speed roughtly went from 0.5 - 4+ knots and back in 10 minutes, with headings from 180° - 280°. Our desired course is 240° magnetic.

During a lull I heard a couple of small whales (from the sound of the breath) breathing and splashing nearby. Saw nothing. During the day some brown boobies flew round and round us, trying to land on the spreaders or bow pulpit, but eventually gave up.

Today John suggested a new game: Guess the mileage made good from noon - noon. We'll divide it into 3 sections and winner of 2 of 3 gets free dinner at 1st restaurant in the Marquesas. For today's run, I guessed 40 miles and John guessed 47. GPS says the answer is 44, so John wins by a hair. 1:0 for John.

[The GPS unit we had aboard was a hand-held one that seemed to burn through batteries quickly. We didn't keep it running most of the time, but John powered it up each day for the "noon" location.]