Blog Post 8-06016

Current position: 33-26, 154-39 heading 010 deg @ 7.15 knots

Alls good on Tiki Blue! Yesterday gave us lighter winds from 13 - 15 knots, flatter seas (i.e. flatter boat) and steering 030 deg at 6.3 - 7 knots. Cooler day with the cloud cover, but still spectacular. Very uneventful. Ruben decided he didn't need the levitation the v-berth provided, so I took the make shift bunk in the main salon and he moved aft. Worked out great for both of us since there seemed to be more air in the main salon and Ruben got the stability he was looking for.

we cruised along last night with 13.5 knots of breeze and 7+ knots. Awesome evening with clear skies. the new moon rose early with a small star (Saturn, Mercury, Venus? - never could determine). As the moon set, we were treated to a mostly clear starry night with numerous shooting stars. No planetarium can create such a spectacular show. Its amazing how insignificant one feels on the vast ocean underneath a canopy of stars. Where one ends, the other begins. Since we're heading more north, we tend to face south while relaxing in the cockpit...so not familiar with the star formations from that perspective. But one is able to see the milky way and distant stars that we can't see due to the city lights.

At some point early this morning, the wind dropped but has now come back and we're moving again nicely toward the point where we can make the turn home. We continue to take daily reports of the rest of the return fleet with funny happenings and tall fishing stories. One boat lost their wind vane due to a resting Boobie while another reported they "didn't have time" to put on an auto pilot...hope he's treating his crew well for having to drive ALL the way back to SF.

With the lighter winds this morning, bacon and cheesy eggs were the order with scrubbing the deck and washing dishes. For those who don't know, fresh water is always conserved on these long distance cruises so sea water is used as much as possible for cleaning. Our crew is great and everyone pitches in. More about the crew tomorrow. The Warlord is doing great and keeping us going in the right direction.

Tiki is now clean, as are the dishes. Fishing has commenced and Andy promises tuna today.

Over and out,

Tiki Blue Crew

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