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Charm - Mauritius 3



The calm winds and seas faded away and were replaced with a brief period of upwind sailing followed by increasing winds and seas, but from the right angle. We have three reefs in the main and our mini-spini (my new name for our smallest spinnaker. Not for a J22 as I previously stated. Maybe a similar size to a size J-122? You’d have to ask Joe to be sure) up and are rocketing along in the 10-knot range, with surfing into the low teens.

I have watch in ten minutes so this will be a short one. Watches actually require watching in these conditions so I can’t write at the same time.

The passage continues to go well. Yesterday, in the calm seas and sunny skies, we played our foredeck games, including the giant inflatable kickboxing bag we are using as a baseball bat as well as jump rope on the trampoline. Talia, Josh and I did a very sweaty workout and topped it off with a dangle in the sea. Marin and Tully came running to join in the fun and we all took a turn hanging by a halyard off the front of the boat.

Josh, an accomplished musician and a cappella singer, has been giving the kids singing lessons and all of us are constantly humming a new song he is teaching them by the Fleet Foxes, a group I will be looking up when we next get to somewhere with internet.

Talia is a very patient companion, chiefly to Tully, who follows her around and tells her things, shows her Wild Kratts videos, and gets her to read her books.

Carl is our steadfast sailor and dishwasher, who is quick with a smile and is a good-natured recipient of, and deliverer of, jabs and banter with Joe.

We’ve continued to have fun with school, learning about density and buoyancy through various experiments. In the next day or two, we will get Josh to give classes on meteorology and aerodynamics. Carl is a librarian who is constantly giving me ideas for books and authors to look into, and Talia has tutored children in many different areas. It’s so nice to have so many resources on the boat!

Time to go on watch and enjoy the last few days on the wacky, wild Indian Ocean!



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