1850 miles to go....

June 6, 2008 Friday - evening watch
Hi folks,
When we started, the GPS told us that we had 2220 miles to reach Flores, the first island in the Azores. Now, there are only 1850 to go.
We have been tearing up the ocean, "hastening down the wind" as some song goes. With the wind behind us, we can tolerate quite a bit of it and it has been around 20 knots all day. That means that we have been scooting along, but there are following waves that throw us around a bit. The motion is not very comfortable. The best thing is to lay down, or wedge yourself into a seat and stay put. Trying to do things can lead to strong language - hey, sailors do it because the sea makes them. But, we are sure getting there. Yesterday, we averaged 7 knots which is very nice for a boat this size.
We have been out of the Gulf Stream for a long time now so we are just getting normal Atlantic sailing. There are little phosphorescent sparkles in the water as we sail along in the dark. What ever happened to the moon? Did somebody forget to pay the moon bill. We haven't seen it since we left. Last night, with just stars and planets, I could see to move around in the cockpit. Tonight it is overcast, so it's pretty dark out...like a pocket. To look for ships, I turn on the radar every 15 minutes or so. But there is nothing around. We haven't seen a ship since yesterday. It is very moist in this neighborhood. All the cushions in the cockpit have a clammy feel. When you sit on them, you get a wet butt. If you stay there for a while, it becomes a warm, wet butt. It's not particularly cold out here. Shorts are fine all night, but to sleep in a proper bed, it is necessary to have a special pair of shorts for sleeping that have never been wet. All this so you don't feel too envious. Our rosemary and mint plants are flourishing. Jeff's daisies are still going strong.
There are a few sailboats in the vicinity (within a few hundred miles). We have been talking to them on the radio. Two are going to Bermuda, so they are heading South. And there is one of our sister ships, another Sceptre 41, Solstice, out of San Francisco. I have been exchanging emails with them for months. They read this blog to see how things are going for us and now they are 50 miles astern. It will be a mini-race since they are also headed directly to the Azores. Except they are just a couple and are guarding their strength. They reef the sails at night on general principles, so I think we're going to get there first.
There is lightning far away on the horizon. We are following a small storm across the Atlantic, but it's staying ahead of us. At some point, the winds will lighten up a bit, making for more comfort aboard, but costing us some of the miles that we are now making. Maybe we can find that happy medium.
Well, I didn't send this last night and I just awoke from a very sound sleep to find that there are only 1797 miles to go. Yay!