31.41.099N 139.21.912W

Howdy again from mid-Pacific. Looks like we're about a thousand miles
from anywhere. We should be passing halfway tomorrow. Today was more
good sailing with 15-20 knot wind and 6-7 foot seas. We've gone a
little conservative by dousing the spinnaker early in the afternoon and
going with white sails for the night. After our brilliant run yesterday
(boosting us to at least 2nd in the division), I was hoping for a repeat
tonight to really put a dagger in 'em. But I think the skipper wanted
to get some sleep rather than waiting for something to break all night,
so he has his foot off the gas for the moment.

For my non-sailing friends, the spinnaker is a large sail that produces
a tremendous amount of power, but is hard to control. Last night we
barreled through the darkness like we were on fire under spinnaker till
a squall made us take it down about 4:00am. It was something! The boat
was heaving and crashing along with lots of phosphorescent glitter
flying around. It was hard enough to keep it under control that you
were ready for relief at the end of each 30 minute hitch at the helm. I
don't think the boss was up to that sort of excitement again tonight.
He's probably being smart. A couple of the other boats have already
suffered breakdowns that will slow them down quite a bit, and we've got
a thousand miles to go.

It's clear that we've moved at least one time zone to the west, even
though we remain on Pacific Time. The first couple of nights when I
came off the 6:00-9:00 watch, it was pitch dark. It's 9:32 right now
and it'll be light for another half hour. Buy the time we get to
Hawaii, the sun will have backed up 3 hours. Combine that with our
broken up work/sleep schedule, and time of day gets pretty meaningless.

I took a Wet-Wipe bath and changed clothes, all in one day! That level
of personal grooming makes me a metrosexual in these circles. Rich, a
veteran of 9 Pacific crossings, actually shaved despite the motion. His
courage had inspired me to maybe attempt the same tomorrow.

Whiskey Delta Bravo 2898 VALIS out
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