20 Years Ago Today -- April 21, 1996 -- Day 13

Sun. 96-04-21 - Day 13 - [@2100Z] 12° 03' N  122° 03' W  Log: 1,093nm

Up at 1700Z. Sunnier and warmer today. Day was quickly ruined when I pointed out that the wind vane wasn't deflecting all the way and identification of a broken axle. John dismantled the vane and attempted a fix, but broke a thread tap off in the piece and we spent the rest of the day trying to get it fixed. At the end of the day, the new axle doesn't fit through the bearing. Onto the backburner for the night...

I cooked ravioli and a salad (we're on the last lettuce) and served it with biscuits I baked (very unsweet, but fine otherwise).

Sunset again brought us dolphins -- this time 50 - 100 small dark ones that occasionally jumped out of a wave, but were not aerobatic. About 5' max length, and pointy saber-shaped dorsal fins [presumably porpoises of some sort].

Hand-steered much of the day and all night, but the night was a bit warmer and the sailing was fun. We're making good time and doing lots of surfing (up to 8 knots).

No CDs. No lottery, as we were busy with the vane and not in the mood. We're over 1,000 miles, so John takes leg one of the lottery 5:4. Hopefully I'll do better on leg 2.

Doing lots of thinking lately on night watch, about people I've known, and what to do with the rest of my life (unfortunately no conclusions on the latter). People include Mr. George Cummin, Emily Carr Middle School science teacher -- a truly great teacher; and Winsome Johnson, a Jamaican girl who sat near me in Grade 13 English class and said I must visit Jamaica. [I hadn't seen either of these people in well over 15 years, so it's interesting to dwell on them at this point.]

Brought in the fish line after dusk -- no leader, no green hoochie. Just the swivel left. Hope a dolphin didn't get caught on it.