20 Years Ago Today -- April 24, 1996 -- Day 16

Wed. 96-04-24 - Day 16 - 7° 21' N  125° 45' W  Log: 1,430nm

We're now past 1/2 way to the Marquesas and deep into the horror of the doldrums. Our strong NE trades faded into unpredictable SE winds for most of the day. Drizzle a lot of the time, with a few downpours in squalls.

I spent the day in the cockpit and now have dishpan body. My hands and feet are especially shriveled. Basically, a downer of a day. Decided to try 2 hour watches tonight -- afterward we both agreed it didn't work for us. I couldn't keep my eyes open for one hour at a time, so we'll be going back to our usual 4 + 3 + 3 + 4 system again. [We didn't run formal watches during the day, as we were both up much of the time and alternated cooking and chores as needed.]

John baked a couple more loaves of white (Booby) bread which were ready in early evening -- yummy, with more sugar than the recipe called for.

For supper, John sauteed some weiners and served them with mashed potatoes (from a box) -- a welcome warm meal for me, as I had been soggy in the cockpit for many hours, and was chilled. The cabin -- closed up against the rain -- is very warm and humid, so John was hot when he relieved cold Dave.

Night watch was actually pleasant, as we didn't get hit by any squalls. Slow going between squalls, though, and we're probably only averaging 2 - 3 knots.

Lottery: New rules: guess our 1900Z position (lat/long). Closest to the GPS position wins. My guess: 7° 25.5' N, 125° 37.9'W, was derived solely from the DR log + 5 miles guesstimated West setting current. I was 8 miles out, and much closer than John, who was 32 miles off.  1:1

No CDs.