Wednesday 29 July

Wednesday 29 July
All day yeatertday the wind came from the north-east, and we sailed south-east through that pesky stationary front, and into a beautiful summer day, blue skies and light south-west wind. Enough wind to sail east at five knots, an occasional sail flog notwithstanding. But light as it is, it is beautiful sailing towards where we want to go without having to deal with a weather feature that has to be dealt with. And good south-west wind is in the forecast for the next few days.
I have been occupied, and pre-occupied with the weather for the past few days. I don't wax eloquent about the beauty of the sea and one with nature when I am dealing with unpleasant weather situations.
But it has been several days, long enough for us to establish a routine. I guess our day starts at 20:00, just as darkness is falling, when I go to bed and Adnaan takes the watch Until midnight. That is a beautiful time of day, You get to watch the stars come out as the sky darkens. It is surprising how long the sky is light after everything below the horizon is black dark. At 00:00 I take the watch until 04:00. And I like that watch. The boat, the world is mine. A blaze of stars overhead, well not so much now. The full moon lightens the sky so that only the brightest, the navigation stars can be seen. At 04:00 I awaken Adnaan by ringing eight bells on the ship's bell. Many times conditions have changed since the previous night, and the two of us will make a sail change. There is a standing order that, at night, the person on watch can not leave the cockpit unless the off watch is awake. So at change of watch the two of us make changes and set the boat up for daytime sailing. Adnaan go on watch and I go back to sleep, until maybe 07:00. Then things get informal. Adnaan may go back to sleep directly or he may take an extended nap in the afternoon. I have been sprnding much of the day with the computer and short wave gathering weather information. I will fix up some things, and I am reading the O'Brian book Master and Commander. It has been so long I am starting at the beginning again. I hope to get more reading done now that the weather has cleared up. Adnaan has been doing all the cooking, and he is a master at rice-'n-stuff. We have a good filling meal once a day with left overs for more when hunger calls. And he has read several books, like maybe four. He is looking forward to traveling to northern Africa and is studying the culture and language, listening to the music on the computer, etc.(I didn't know that someone from Tangiers is a Tangerine) And right now he is reading Blue Latitude, a book about Capt Cook. The day is whiled by until sunset, when we usually sit in the cockpit and talk, and as it gets dark the next day starts.
Reef Early
Bill Doar
s/v Advent II