20 Years Ago Today -- April 16, 1996 -- Day 8

Tues. 96-04-16 - Day 8 - 17° 45' N  114° 09' W  Log: 531nm

Up at 1700Z. Sunny day with small flat cumulus clouds. Have we reached the trades? Wind ~8 knots most of the day, shifting N and then NE at 2000. Too light for good downwind sailing, but we're moving, and relatively comfortable.

Lottery: Dave: 75; John: 79; Log: 81; GPS: 78. John wins. 3:2.

I'm at peace with myself and the world out here. Pretty bad week's run so far, but we should be able to look forward to better wind most of the remaining distance. I've quite enjoyed most of the sailing, which was virtually all light air upwind stuff until today. No anxiety about the trip or expected duration to date. I'm happy to be here and not really looking beyond the sailing. Thinking about lots of my friends. It'll be nice to get together with them when I return.

Sailing wing & wing since mid-afternoon. Slow but well-balanced and heading approximately the right direction (225° magnetic). I took a series of star sights at dusk, so I'll be reducing them during my watch. A bit warmer today and tonight than the last few. Sure is perfect conditions -- not too hot or cold.

Hmph! My sights gave me 3 perfectly intersecting LOPs and another only 5 miles away, but GPS says we should have been ~30 miles to the south. Strange! John also got a sun fix near mine and we're rather confused.