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Sojourner - Day two



Hi Folks,

As some may know, the start of the rally was delayed about 22 hours because of high winds at the marina. Would not have been much of a problem at sea but expensive boats bouncing off each other as they maneuvered in tight slips would be a liability issue. We were cheered out of the marina by loud playing music and waving locals. (May be they were glad to see us go after the costume party - all that stuff about the crew of Sojourner dressed in drag and gyrating around a bearded Ali Baba, aka Cathy.) As we went by the reviewing stand, the announcer said "There goes America! Hmm. Wonder what he ment. The start line was very crowded - about 170 boats but by this morning only a couple of boats were visible and now we know they are there only by radio. At sea, you are alone.

Well, alone except for the crew. We have the two best cooks, Bob and Pete, in the fleet and two of the best eaters, Tom and me, so we will merrily eat our way to St. Lucia. Pete is working on dinner now.


Weather has been favorable though chillier than I would like. Not quite T shirts and shorts only on deck. Winds have been mostly 10 - 20 knots. First day's run was a very modest 106 nm. Really hope to average much better than that as we get away from the wind shadows cast by the Canary Islands. Waves have not been real challenging and are from aft of the beam. Nothing is safe if left unattended. Pete was just fooled in to thinking he could put a beer on the table and take his hand away. Spills are quickly wiped up.

We motored for a couple of hours last night and then ran the water maker which seems to be fine. Most often, it does work. The autopilot kicks out when there is anything but a light sea but the wind vane saves us from hand steering.


All are healthy. Well, except Bob who is coming down with a cold. Didn't get away from land based germs quite soon enough.

Ken

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