20 Years Ago Today -- April 29, 1996 -- Day 21

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

20 Years Ago Today -- April 28, 1996 -- Day 20

Sun. 96-04-28 - Day 20 - 2° 31' N  128° 00' W  Log: 1,716nm

Had the most gorgeous dawn before I went off-watch. The colours were pastels -- pink, blue, yellow, such as I've never seen in nature before. Sunrise was partly obscured by clouds, which were lit up around their edges and dark (silhouetted) in the middle. Took some photos. We've had lots of good sunrises and sunsets, especially near the doldrums, but there's been so much cloud that they wouldn't photograph well.

Slept and got up at 1800Z, causing concern about the rules of the lottery, as I needed to get a sun sight and reduce it, as well as my DR before 1900. Since the watch schedule was pushed out, it's too challenging. We agreed that I could take more time, to work out my calculations, as long as the sight was done before 1900.

I took a sun sight just before 1900 (5, actually, to ensure accuracy), as well as having noted the time of the appearance of the sun's top limb over the horizon at sunrise. Together, I applied a running fix, which probably would have been great if we had a decent log, but it's not working and the distance run I used was inadequate.

Lottery: John: 5 miles off; Dave: 12 miles -- 4:2. My sun sight was perfect, though, with the LOP running right through the GPS position.

For supper, John cooked up rice with (canned) vienna sausage [weiners] and (canned) spinach. Not bad, except for the spinach. We're really looking forward to catching a fish, though.

Ran out of water on port tank (45 gal.) despite having run the watermaker for quite a few hours. Unfortunately, it sucks air when we're on port tack, as we will be all the way to the Marquesas.

CDs:

• Stanley Clarke -- East River Drive
• Miles Davis -- Amandla

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.

20 Years Ago Today -- April 15, 1996 -- Day 7

Mon. 96-04-15 - Day 7 - 18° 16' N  112° 51' W  Log: 451nm

Up at 1530Z, tired but couldn't sleep any more. Partly cloudy today with small cumulus clouds and a high thin cirrus above. Wind NW 10 - 15 knots.

Today's lottery: Dave: 101; John: 82; Log: 103; GPS: 113. Dave wins! 3:1.

Wind lightened and we rolled along in beam seas most of the day and all night frustratingly slow.

I reheated the chicken from fajitas a few nights back and put soy sauce in, and served it over rice. Not bad. We finished the birthday cake for dessert.

John's working hard on his celestial navigation skills and I've done a bit too.

Frustrating night watch in sloppy, light conditions. Hand steered nearly all night. Wind filled 10 minutes before the end of my second watch at dawn. Listened to my CDs on headphones during first watch. Continued reading Bourne Ultimatum. CD's:

• Los Del Rio -- Macarena
• Madonna -- Erotica
• Miles Davis -- Milestones

Saw last view of comet Hyakutake in west sky just after sunset. Not much to see now, but was awesome 3 weeks ago.