20 Years Ago Today -- May 3, 1996 -- Day 25

Fri. 96-05-03 - Day 25 - 4° 58' S  134° 56' W  Log: 2,325nm

Made good 139 nautical miles in the past 24 hours, our best day yet. Only 368 miles to Hiva Oa. Slept 'till 2000Z -- well, I just lay there awake after 1900, thinking about how to serve up the wahoo. Felt not bad today, especially considering I only slept about 5.5 - 6 hours.

Still crappy weather, with lighter winds and lots of rain around. I baked bread this afternoon -- 2 loaves + cinnamon rolls again. The buns were better this time, with lots more sugar in the layer with the cinnamon. The bread didn't come out as good looking this time, probably because it was real bumpy when they went into the oven. Haven't tried it yet. Used the Ardmachree white bread recipe again, but put ~ 1/3 cup of sugar instead of 1/4. I should copy that recipe!

I cooked up the wahoo by frying in margarine with seasoning, salt and served over spaghetti with a trim of Ardmachree's mango chutney. Excellent, except the fish was mostly bones and was a lot of work to eat.

CD: Stanley Clarke -- East River Drive (while baking)

Saw a dolphin or two tonight -- first time since the NE trades. [Actually, they may be pilot whales or false killer whales... about 10' long]

Still squally tonight. Mostly cloudy.

20 Years Ago Today -- April 14, 1996 -- Day 6

Sun. 96-04-14 - Day 6 - 19° 00' N  110° 59' W  Log: 336nm

Up at 1700Z. Sailed through the Islas Revillagigedos, or "Revelling Gigolos" as the skipper of Markenurh calls them. Sailed south of San Benedicto and north of Socorro, at 5 - 10 miles off each. San Benedicto had steep bluffs on the south (visible) side. Socorro was much bigger (visible virtually from sunrise to sunset), tall and not steep, with the impression of large grassland areas.

Gorgeous cloudless day with 10 - 15 knots from the NW. Rather rolly at times as we got lifted to a beam reach. We logged about 109 miles on the log. Lottery: Dave: 105; John: 111; GPS: 101. Dave wins again.  2:1 for me. Today was kind of easy, as we could see exactly where we were.

Towed an orange squid lure all afternoon with no luck. Put a reef in at dusk but shook it out a couple of hours later. Made good time all day, but a bit slower this evening. John cooked hot dogs this evening. Our fresh food supplies are starting to dwindle.

Put on my headphones for a couple of hours on my first watch and listened to:

CD's: Mile Davis -- Amandla; Doo Bop.

Continued reading the Bourne Ultimatum. Oh yeah, spotted whales spouting south of us off the west coast of Socorro Island. Looked like puffs of black smoke.

Had a cockpit shower in mid-afternoon with a fresh rinse. Cold!

20 Years Ago Today -- April 12, 1996 -- Day 4

Fri. 96-04-12 - Day 4 - 20° 07' N  108° 26' W  Log: 179nm

My 34th birthday. Up at 1600Z. Still not quite over the odd feeling (kind-of queasy) in my stomach, which is irritating. Sorted through some rotten vegetables (altready).

This afternoon, started reading Robert Ludlum's Bourne Profecy, which I expect will be quite a good read. Had a 3-hour nap in the afternoon.

John cooked a birthday dinner for me. BBQ steak (turned out to be really thin), broccoli and salad. He also baked a chocolate cake for dessert, and had balloons and everything. Really nice!

My first night watch (0200 - 0600Z) was peaceful, but frustrating sailing all night. We sailed towards Orion until it set, with the bright silver reflection of Venus on the water just to the North. The wind was really fluky, from 2-8 knots from SW through NW. Boat speed roughtly went from 0.5 - 4+ knots and back in 10 minutes, with headings from 180° - 280°. Our desired course is 240° magnetic.

During a lull I heard a couple of small whales (from the sound of the breath) breathing and splashing nearby. Saw nothing. During the day some brown boobies flew round and round us, trying to land on the spreaders or bow pulpit, but eventually gave up.

Today John suggested a new game: Guess the mileage made good from noon - noon. We'll divide it into 3 sections and winner of 2 of 3 gets free dinner at 1st restaurant in the Marquesas. For today's run, I guessed 40 miles and John guessed 47. GPS says the answer is 44, so John wins by a hair. 1:0 for John.

[The GPS unit we had aboard was a hand-held one that seemed to burn through batteries quickly. We didn't keep it running most of the time, but John powered it up each day for the "noon" location.]