February 18, 2002

Time: 22:00 local

Position: 07.39' North -- 068.23' East

Course: 308 degrees magnetic

Speed 7.2 knots

The weather is still holding favorable and we're amazed at how lucky we have been. Again, it's 12 knots out of the northeast and seas are very mild. We've been talking to numerous other sailing vessels bound for Salala and they too have had light weather. We hear that there are 16 boats between Sri Lanka and Salala and 37 more in Salala getting ready to depart for the Red Sea. As we get closer to Oman we anticipate collecting more information which will help us with our decision - Salala or Djibouti.

There's really not much to report here tonight. The Southern Cross will be visible on my next watch - from 04:00 to 06:00, the flying fish are abundant and we saw numerous large whales today paralleling the boat and running at the same speed as us. They were trying to keep up and staying only a boat length abeam of us. I'm not sure what kind they were but they were as big as our California Grays but without barnacles - slate gray in color with a small shark like dorsal fin and a double blowhole. They finally dropped behind but it was quite a sight to see them swimming at 7 knots and paralleling our course.

It was another lazy afternoon of reading and relaxing. We barbequed hamburgers on the Magma today and had a delicious Dijon Chicken dinner tonight with potatoes and carrots - and our usual cabbage salad. Cabbage is amazing as it seems to last for weeks - unrefridgerated. I think tomorrow we'll drop the fishing lines in and hope for a Whaoo or Dorado for dinner.

Close This Window