Good news and bad news from the boat today. The bad news is that the Adam MacLean Invitational Tuna Derby (or The Invitational as it is referred to on the boat) is on hold. The good news is that the reason we are putting it on hold is that we are sailing far too fast for fishing.
Over the past two days we've been deep into the mid-teens as we burn over two hundred miles per day towards Maui. Any fish caught at this speed would simply explode.
The warm seas have settled down as we rocket towards the 20th parallel. Our sleeps are getting much better as we are able to consistently lock in and surf waves. Last night's sail was under steady winds and clear skies with the moon illuminating the sea ahead of us with the Milky Way blanketing the sky above with navigation points.
Near midnight our closest competitor, Passepartout, crept out of the horizon to starboard despite being hundreds of miles abeam just days ago. They distantly crossed over our tail in the dark and then returned to being a tiny bump in the horizon over our right shoulder. This am with sun coming up, we got out in front of them and have what we hope will be some great shots of them sailing with their spinnaker out. It is strange, that after 700 miles or so, we bunch up again out here. This was the first sign of any other boat we had seen in days.
As the clock rolled over to 2:00am we decided it was safe to drop the white sails and raise the White Monster kite to throw on the afterburners and truck through the night. <queue Kenny Loggins - Highway to the Danger Zone>
Yesterday we held a downwind drag race as we went through our rotation of skippers with Darin and Travis coming out on top:
Under Kite (the new one that Drew delivered the Wednesday before departure...good thing!: Travis - 15.6 knots
Under White Sails: Darin - 12.8 knots
Travis and Jason's game of good navigator / bad navigator is turning out to be an effective management tactic for the team and we are all settling into our respective routines. We are sure that from shore it is looking like we are falling trap to the "great early sailing" and getting sucked into the High. Well...... that might be accurate :). But we have looked forward at the wind models and it doesn't look much better south. So here is hoping.
The weather has been a really awesome, but looking forward is causing some angst in the crew. It looks like everything is going to go really soft Thursday and Friday, which could delay our arrival. We all are very much looking forward to seeing our families in Maui and it will be hard to sit and wallow around in under 5kts of wind. For now, we push on with the BC Place roof flying out in front of the boat (the A2) and Steve Tomlinson at the wheel.
Unfortunately, none of our daily routines have included showering and thus today has been officially crowned "Team Shower Day".
Today's entry is going to feature an anonymous confidential confession:
"After a work-out at the gym I am usually comfortable showering in the buff. I don't know what is causing me such apprehension about showering in the buff while on board here in the middle of the Pacific. Perhaps it is the camera pointed at me or that someone on the crew puts Def Leopard's "Pour Sugar on Me" on the stereo whenever I get into shower on the back deck. Hence I think it'll be bathing in my suit until I get off of the boat."
To capitalize on today's highly successful Shower Day, Travis plans to bolt a hot-pink neon sign on the back of the boat while we are docked in Maui that will flash: "LIVE ALL MALE SHOWER SHOWS - DAILY".
Needless to say, we are all ecstatic with our progress and miss everyone back home terribly,
The boys on Turnagain
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