We are stoked as we haven't run the engine since Monterey Bay. We are keeping a steady pace at around 4-5 knots. We aren't breaking any speed records but it is a comfortable yet steady pace. We are going to be heading on the backside of the Islands than on into San Diego where I think, if you can't smell us already, we will head straight for the showers and laundry mat! haha!
The air is a bit warmer. I have taken off my foulies entirely in the day time, but not at night. I could probably go without, but I hate being cold so.....I keep myself rugged up. I can't wait until the temperature changes dramatically.
Night before last, Neil and I were out getting ready to switch off shifts, I think it was about 3 am. and the moon was shining through the fog...this was the first time we saw the moon at night...and I was zoning at the seas swirling beside the boat. There was already a lot of phosphorescence in the water..they looked like little glowing disney balls! ((think "Tinkerbell")) and the foam swirls...those foam swirls all of a sudden got brighter and brighter. They were almost florescent blue. It looked like someone had turned on a black light. Next thing is that you can make out what it was...yep...Dolphins!! Tons of them. They were swimming under, beside, back and forth, zig zagging at like 30 miles an hour. You could make out the slower ones who were taking there time to get a good look at you. They were glowing "Sea Angels" as Neil put it. It really was trippy! They stayed with us for about a half an hour than took off as fast as they appeared.
This is why I love to sail. At night, the world changes out here. By day you get to see just how beautiful the colors of the ocean are. Deep rich blues, greens, teals, white...black and grey.
We are all feeling better. Neil and Katie got hit the worst but have gotten some good rest and we are going to be 100% by the time we hit San Diego.
We have passed several tankers. The only one that got me was the 1000+ ft. cargo ship that passed within a half a mile. At night it looked more like 200 feet...it was just so huge! Thanks to the AIS the cargo ships have been no worries. You still have to have a nightwatchmen as not all ships we have passed have AIS! So we are breaking up the watches at a rate of every 4-6 hours. We started with more like a 10 on 10 off, but sometimes its hard to sleep when the boat is pitching side to side so badly. I think we have all gotten used to that now and no one has gotten sea sick!
We are still about 30 miles off the Channel Islands heading south running parallel to them. We hope to be in San Diego in a few days. So far it has been pretty pleasant. It's a bit rocky, but pleasant. Stewart and I have spent many a shift in the hammocks. Just "hanging out" . haha! I am so thankful for the side panels. We have used them a lot. Typically we put up the windward side and it makes it almost completely windless in the cockpit. It has also saved us from some breaking seas that slapped us on the beam. A couple of them have shot 8 feet over top of the bimini...thank goodness we were covered! Phew!
I think that after we take our first trip to land though, that we will look and walk a little bit like "Captain Jack Sparrow" and have a bit of a waddle!..."why isn't this land moving??" haha....oh ya and "where is the rum?" hehe...Keep us in your prayers, as so many of you are in ours. Now I am off to make some hot cocoa and turn on the "radio re runs" on the satellite radio.......
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