Lat: 20 52.480′ S
Long: 02 59.541′ E

It’s Day 6, and all is well on board. Today is definitely not our fastest day, as we are struggling to top 4 knots with both the small kite and a double-reefed mainsail, but we’re still moving in the right direction, and last tonight we passed halfway to St. Helena.

By this time, each of us has settled into a routine, although the timing of our activities changes from day to day as a result of our rotating watch schedule. We do 3-hour shifts throughout the day and night that rotate 3 hours forward each day. Of course the 9 p.m.-12 a.m. shift is the favorite of the night shifts, as it gives you the chance to sleep through the night (for 6 hours, anyway). There is less agreement about second best, but for me, it is the 3-6 a.m. It usually begins with tired eyes, reluctant to stay open, but as the sky begins to brighten, so does one’s energy level. Having never been an early morning person, I haven’t seen a great many sunrises in my lifetime (except for the odd one or two in college viewed after a long night — of studying, of course), but I believe that the ones that we have a chance to see out here with nothing but deep blue sea between us and the horizon are hard to beat.

Tracey and I were able to share this one during our shift change

When we’re not dozing or keeping watch, each of us has our preferred activities. I can usually be found in the galley or with my nose in a book. Dallas has been hard at work, completing minor repairs so quickly that Tracey and I joked that we need to break something to give him more to do. Tracey continues to have a voracious appetite for learning, both from books and from the skipper, and likes to give her brain a break by watching movies from our diverse collection. She also has drawn a couple more miniature “vision boards”, inspired by the obvious success of her first one which led us to catch our first mahi-mahi! If her other vision boards work as well, then we should have smooth spinnaker sailing from here on out with whale and dolphin sightings and plenty of time to get to Brazil for Carnival!

Our first mahi-mahi

Although not the subject of a vision board, we had some good news about the rigging. Dallas spoke to our rigger in Florida (Colin with Mack Sails) who informed him that having two toggles crack under strain would be like “lightning striking twice”. He suggested that what seemed to be new cracks in the port shroud toggle might just be superficial scratches. Dallas filed and sanded them down, and sure enough, they disappeared.

Well, that’s all for now. I need to get busy either reading in the sun or taking a short nap. Decisions, decisions….