20 Years Ago Today -- April 29, 1996 -- Day 21
Thursday, April 28, 2016 at 10:56PM Mon. 96-04-29 - Day 21 - 1° 02' N 129° 44' W Log: 1,853nm
Another sunny day in paradise. Up at 1800Z, took sun sights for our contest and worked out my EP -- not good at all -- even my LOP was quite a bit off, and we had run WAY further than either John or I imagined using our WAG log record.
Lottery: John: 19 miles off, Dave: 44 -- John wins 5:2. With less than 150 miles left in leg 2, John obviously won. In addition, that's 2 out of 3 legs for him, so I owe him dinner.
I was feeling tired today, and grumpy/down. It kind of surprises me that I have mood swings out here when the weather is so consistent. I expect partly it's the increased boat motion, now that we've been reaching in 15 knots day and night. The doldrums were a refreshingly softer ride, although not nearly flat.
After working out my EP, I cooked myself up a great breakfast of French toast cheese sandwiches, using the bread I had baked. Although it wasn't a great bread alone, it made great French toast.
Had a nap in late PM (as I have most days) and slept hard -- had trouble waking up. Our great circle course to Hiva Oa is a beam reach so far -- I hope the trades get less South in them rather than more. Only about a week to go to the Marquesas. We'll be crossing the equator sometime in the middle of the night tonight. Making good time.
I'm quite frustrated at my lack of success fishing, despite changing lures every day or two. For supper, I heated a can of chili, and opened a can of peaches, and John cooked up a brownie mix for dessert.
Not in the mood to spend my watch in the cockpit, so I think I'll write a letter or two. It was cool today -- t-shirt required in the shade (with 15 knots of breeze), and a sweatshirt is likely not enough to spent my watch outside -- ironic as we're at the equator. All in all, sailing in the tropics is much cooler than I imagined.
The boat's CD player loading mechanism seems to be malfunctioning, so I played my cassette tape "Thalia -- In Ecstatis" at supper. Luckily, I've still got my portable CD player. CDs:
- Miles Davis -- Kinda Blue (dawn)
- Manteca -- Perfect Foot
Wrote a 4-page letter to my ex-wife on my 1st watch and a 2 page letter to my buddy Yves and his gang on the 2nd watch