Trash talk

June 15:
After everyone got their sea legs and until the day before yesterday it seemed pretty easy, like we were on a boat in a studio pond, with fans for wind, and a team getting tanned, wined and dined. The reality came from the 24 hour watch with erratic sleep schedules and real strong heat during the day. Then, the day before, we put the bimini up. (Oh ya, racers, a bimini is quite alright on a delivery). All of sudden, there was shade in the cockpit, and no more heat exhaustion. Then, the kite went up (spinnaker) and we picked up the pace from 6 to 8. That night, we put the kite down for safety.

Yesterday, as soon as I was up, we were on the foredeck putting up the kite again. It has been that way ever since. Flying the kite and surfing big waves has made everyone much more attentive and it is also that much more fun. The regular watches are now broken down into 30 minute turns to steer the boat as it surfs the waves and gets pulled by the kite. We are flying with speeds on the water as high as 11.3 knots. With apologies to El Erian, 8 knots (avg) is the "new normal".

June 14:
This morning I was on the 2 - 6 am shift. The sunrise was spectacular and I wandered around the foredeck exploring how sheets, guys, mast, and lines see the white caps, clouds, and colors of the sky. I must have taken a couple hundred photographs and at least 7 or 8 really good ones.  At one point I saw an unusual object in a photo, near my feet lay a flying fish that had flown onto the deck at night and couldn't get off. It made me wonder who was in whose territory.

June 13:
Now onto to some trash talk. For several days until yesterday we saw some plastic debris in the water almost every mile. Buckets, bottles, balls, and bags and a wide assortment of non-descript crap. It is unbelievable. Imagine if WE can see that much debris from this boat, how much of it really exists in the ocean. Jared was reminded of a PBS special where a cameraman went into the Pacific High, a large area of water with no wind, and found a large pile of garbage, tons and tons of it. I just don't get it. More pleasant stuff tomorrow....

-Gautam