Maamalni - Maamalni - Leg 5: #1 Heading for Suwarrow - "Back in the saddle again"

We finally escaped port with the new outboard propeller in hand and headed for sea. The fleet left Tuesday at noon and we straggled along after them Friday afternoon?. But you might well imagine that once you've missed the starting gun, you just get complacent and go when you think that the wind is right. As we headed for the setting sun to the west, the breeze freshened and we raised sail? for all of 30 minutes. Engine on! So for the next 72 hours, Perkie kept a chuggin'? and when Perkie is
working, it means that we have ice cubes? now I am not sure that 1 gallon of diesel to a glass of ice is a good bargain, but at least the batteries were being recharged and topped off.

Larry (a.k.a. Bob), who had been with us for a portion of the shakedown cruise to Kodiak Alaska needed an uneventful passage. He had just sold his company three days before getting on the plane to join us and was completely stressed out over the last minute details. We are happy to report, unlike our recent passages, that this indeed has been pretty quiet? so far no repairs, no major seas and cocktails at sunset. Our days have been filled with reading and dangling our feet off the back end of
the boat in the area fondly referred to as the 'back porch'. Being totally safety conscious we stream a 100 feet floating line just in case we slip of the end? although if any one of us hung onto that line for long we might just look like bait for a really big fish? but then that is why on the opposite we stream the fishing line as a distraction. Which incidentally did provide a lovely 10-pound tuna.

We witnessed one of life's unique treasures - a radiating rainbow! What I am talking about is just after the sun had set and the green flash had exploded, the last of the sun's rays turned every color of the rainbow and filled the sky in a radial pattern. Something that we had never seen before, but sure hope to again.

Fair Winds _/) Suzan and Michael