Day Five

Things are shaping-up with our Southerly route. A tropical depression strengthening to the South keeps the route in front of us a not-so-straight line. I briefly scanned the standings this morning and I see we're climbing the ladder "Exactly as planned" (wring your hands and use your best Monty Burns voice for that one). I remind myself to not get too attached to standings as we have lots of distance to conquer. A lesson for life, I suppose.

A little about what we're doing:

Everyone on board is on a "4 hours on, 4 hours off" rotations system. This goes on 24 hrs a day. For example, I get on at 2:00 AM and am off at 6:00 AM, then back on at 10:00, ... you get the picture. Every hour someone comes up from their bunk and rotates-in and relieves another. It takes about 2 days to really get into the swing, then it comes much easier. I won't say it ever becomes second nature.

Regarding roles, each of us has a general working knowledge of each other's position and could fill-in in a pinch but the idea is to generate routine, so we have very specific assignments. This is for several reasons, but not the least of which is to accommodate fatigue. During a gibe, for example, we can all do our roles half asleep because it has become so repetitive. By the way, when a maneuver is called for, its typically an all-hands affair and you're called out of your bunk JUST as you start to fall asleep -or so it seems.

My father used to say that every day you are on a boat it gets two feet shorter. This can be the case, but overcoming this challenge is one of the brilliant components of this sport. Aside from pushing hard from a physical and skills perspective, you find yourself tested as an individual on a team. Patience, diplomacy, diligence, kindness (sounds trite but hugely valuable)are always in play to keep the competitive edge. I have been on a crossing where it has fallen apart. I'm sure you can imagine.

Last night I slept for a bit in the forward section of the boat. I would call it the forward cabin, but accommodations have been removed to keep the bow light. There's really nothing up there but the shell of the hull and deck - no foam mattress, no gear bags, just hull. The noise of the water rushing by echoes intensely and one gets an eerie sense of speed. I put in some ear plugs, spent a few minutes with my new book "The Dalai Lama's Little Book of Wisdom" and replenish the mental stores for another day before passing out.

Others are looking over my shoulder now, so I'll sign off. Jay says to tell you all that there's no need to worry about us running out of food. Apparently we have Lot's of Pringles.

Currently: 80 degrees, a dead run in 18 kts breeze, mixed 3'-4' swell/chop, boat speed average 10 kts and hitting mid-teens on occasion.

All my love to Lindsay and Connor,
Kevin

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