Day 10- Finally reached nirvana

Last night was our first real beautiful/pleasurable spinnaker sail with
moon light and stars. Makes driving the boat so much easier. And today
was a sunny warm mild sail with the big spinny and stubby. Big spinny
does not like stubby pole, prefers the bigger pole so a bit more
difficult to handle in 25 knots however we are managing as we get closer
to rum line. We spread out on the boat today, Mark took a nap on the bow
just forward of the mast... yes the pointy end.. Also took ocean bathes
on the stern platform and dried out in the sun. We will all take fresh
water showers the day prior to arrival at KYC. I know the significant
others will appreciate this! We are on the aft tank of water and want to
make sure we don't accidentally drain it. So all the faucets in the two
heads have been taped down. They seem to be easily knocked into the on
position so when we turn on the water pumps we have water running in the
bathrooms and right out into the ocean. This can easily lead to dry
water tanks like our 2008 Pac Cup. So extra precautions are necessary.

We saw and passed a boat today on the southern horizon. Not sure who it
was but we were going much faster. We are still over 600 miles away and
think we will arrive KYC Sunday night around midnight PST. We will see.

All is good with the boat. All systems are working and provisions are
more then adequate so this down hill leg of the trip should go by fast
and we are sailing as fast as we can with the Tiki stubby pole. We are
sailing about 95% of our spinny polars so not up to par but a lot better
then NO spinnaker! Dinner time on Tiki with this crew is always fun. We
can get bit whacky out here and what seems funny out here may not
translate to land bound humans. We have all started getting that
hallucinogenic syndrome where you hear people screaming off in the
distance at night or you see outlines of ghosts, monsters or whatever is
in your head. We like to share this at dinner time. Once of the simple
pleasures of ocean racing.

We have nick names for each other as a term of endearment and team
building. We call Mark pig pen. He is always spilling dumping whatever
he is near. Last night he spilled coleslaw dressing all over the floor
and made a slick grease pad at the base of the stairs in the salon. He
washes clothes in the bath room and then hangs them up inside the boat
over someone's bunk so they can drip dry on their place of rest. Of
course those of you who know me understand that I'm on the neat freak
side of the equation so we are like Oscar and Felix. Of course Mark
tells me that neat freaks are born out of a overwhelming sense of
insecurity and that for my own growth and development I should join the
pig pen club and learn from his total disregard for organization and
cleanliness. So I'm learning. ha ha.

We really do have one hell of a laugh everyday and so this journey will
be another memorable one for us all to cherish!

**PS: Kelly - The boys are doing well and everyone is safe and sound.

Aloha for now- Team Tiki Blue