Checking in

Hey, this is Gavin writing:

It's already nearing the halfway point and this will be my first time sitting down to write.  We're making fast progress at a bearing of 35 degrees, and the wind has shifted behind us to the point where we can finally fly the spinnaker. Consequently, we're making some of our fastest progress yet.

I want to say hi to everyone that's following along. It's nice to know people back on land are keeping up with our adventures.  I'm doing very well- happy, healthy and adapted to life out here.

It's amazing how little free time you have between being on watch and all the little maintenance tasks to keep everything running smoothly. Some of the most mundane tasks take much longer: cooking, cleaning, and even changing clothes all acquire new significance, as all of them are done while the boat lifts over waves and into troughs, all while the angle of heel can change unexpectedly.

In the first part of the trip, my favorite time was sailing at night.  Everything had a ephemeral, dreamlike quality to it, even when we had strong winds and we were charging over a silver-blue sea with whitecaps illuminated in blazing white.  The wind and the spray were warm, and the sky was full of stars.  Despite the speed, everything felt calm and peaceful -perfect.

Dawn lights the sky like a work of art in shades of orange, purple, red and gray which give way to the dominating tropical sun. The fierce light sends me scurrying to cover up with long sleeved shirts, hats and sunglasses. The rest of the crew is now sporting deep tans and stark tan-lines, yet no SPF is strong enough to protect me, despite swathing myself in it several times a day.

Speaking of days, the concept of a day in the sense of sleep-wake cycles is lost here.  The exigencies of running the ship demand that we sacrifice such luxuries, and give in to days that fade in and out several times in the course of 24 hours.

Calendar days run together like a long and lucid dream.  Our day-night cycles happen several times a day.  We never get more than about 4 hours sleep at a time.  It sounds worse than it is.  Your body adapts quickly to this new pace of life, and any other way seems quaint.  It's altogether pleasant if you let it be.