Hello all,

POS:    28* 00.9 S 121* 38.6 W         
SOG:    6.0
COG:    270
DTG:    487 NM to Pitcairn

This morning we woke up to a bright and clear sky. The sea calmed down. The rolling stopped. A slight swell was left. Although the wind decreased we still could sail. The perfect circumstances for a trawl with Manta. After trawling the wind picked up a bit, the sun got warm and everybody was on deck. Reading, playing guitar or just staring at the blue ocean.

Around lunchtime the clouds came back and they hid the sun once more. At watch change, 14:00, it started to drip, and from dripping it went to rain and 12 hours later that is till the case. The wind shifts every now and then, from East to NNE and back. Same for the wind speed. Between 14 and 26 all evening.

The funny thing is that I hear nobody complaining that it's wet outside. The wind and rain are warm. It is in a way calming to stand in the rain and hear the drops fall on your hood in a rhythm. The only minor detail in the day was that I forgot to close my own porthole and therefore had to sleep in a partial waterbed...but well...at least it is not cold :-)

In the meantime, daily life on board also gets into a rhythm. The VC learns a bit more about sailing every day. More people get involved in maintenance jobs here and there. We all learn about the small creatures from the sea found in the Manta trawl net and the not so many found plastic parts. Which can be a good sign.

And in between all of that, the galley cooks us the most delicious and varying food every day. So we have nothing more to wish for. We might even have a paper published tomorrow. I'm curious to read about the "current affairs" collected on board.

Groetjes,