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American Spirit II - Day 196; Still Sailing to Australia; Sunday, July 20, 2014



At 6:30 AM Jeanine saw a sun rise that had a rainbow around it. Not a halo, a rainbow. She tried to take a picture of it with her phone, but no luck. Too bad. That would have been a cool one to see. Because I was still sick, Jeanine was letting me sleep in past my regular 6:00 AM watch time. Thank you Jeanine.

At 8:18 AM we took the reefs out of the main and jib. Wind speed 12 knots; boat speed 7.6 knots.

Charlie from Celebrate conducted the 9:00 AM net. Charlie is the fleet's 'Johnny Carson' of net controllers. Its always fun to listen and participate when he's got the mike. Kind of like 'Good Morning Vietnam' with Robin Williams, except on the ocean. I'm not kidding.

Our noon position was 17 degrees, 42 minutes South; 160 degrees, 30 minutes East; with 593 miles to go to our next waypoint.

Though we'd hoped the wind would back behind the beam by now, at 2:20 PM we were still close hauled (the wind was forward of the beam). Wind speed 13 knots and boat speed 7.3 knots. The seas were 5 feet. Joel and Jeanine napping down below at this time, leaving sick Brian in the cockpit. Sick or not, Joel and I always stand our watches. Extra crew or guests do not have to stand watches when seasick. But some, like Jeanine, do. Way to go Jeanine!

I'm feeling OK now. Not seasick anymore, but extremely dehydrated. And exhausted. Not peeing a lot, and what comes out is solid orange. I can't believe I'm putting this into a log. Oh well. It is what it is. You tell if you're properly hydrated by the color of your pee. There. I said it.


At 4:15 PM I put one reef into the main. Wind 15 knots and speed 7.1. Jeanine relieved me at 4:35 PM. I then went below for a nap. Joel still napping.

At 6:00 PM Charlie from Celebrate (AKA the sailing Johnny Carson) conducted the evening net. He had asked everyone on the net to state when they started sailing. One captain (Peter from Adela?) said he started sailing at age 65. And John and Jane from Seaduced, a 55 foot boat from the UK, started sailing 7 years ago. You have to give it to the Brits. Who ever thought that anyone in the world would sail around the world after sailing only 7 years? That's the sort of mindset that enabled Great Britain to command the oceans for what, 200 years? Tough people those Brits. Way to go John and Jane. We'll miss you when you stop in Australia.

Dinner at 6:30 PM consisted of freeze dried, Macaroni and Cheese. Joel made dinner because I was still recovering. We also had chilled pear halves and bread.

At 6:45 PM while on watch Joel saw a really good shooting star. What qualifies as a 'good' shooting star? Duration time wise, and the distance or arc that the star carves thru the sky above.

Not much to report on my watch from 9:00 PM to 12:00 AM. Wind 16 knots; boat speed 7.3 knots. FYI. As one of the smallest boats in the fleet, when we're sailing at 7 knots or above, we are really moving. You can also assume at speeds of 7 knots and above we're not playing dominoes in the cockpit. That requires a flat, horizontal surface. Not a slanted one.

At 10:05 PM I saw a boat on our port beam 1/2 mile away. Red running light visible. I hailed them on my radio, but they didn't answer. Mike on Vivo, 13 miles away, caught my transmission and we chatted for a while. I can't wait to get our new AIS installed. Then I won't have to hail a boat nearby because my chart plotter will show who they are.

Joel relieved me at 12 midnight.

Brian Fox




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