We are travel on a course of 25 degrees magentic. The wind is 20 knots from the south east. The seas are moderate with swell from the east. We are reaching with a speed of 8 knots. The princess has put away her bucket! I am feeling much better. Thank you everyone for the nice emails. I even made an effort yesterday to try to look a bit like that pretty princess. Ron started the generator and we had some hot water. I had a nice hot water. I washed my hair, took a nice shower. I was feeling much better. Until..... I went outside to collect a wave and get a nice salt water rinse in my clean hair only a few hours later. I tried.....
We had a pleasant day yesterday. The seas were a bit mixed up but a fairly consistent blow. We decided that we were ready to have some fish. Zachary got out our offshore Penn reel with 150 pound test. As requested, he attached the lure Stephanie bought Ron for a Christmas gift. He was able to sit on the deck (with his harness) and enjoy some sunshine. Putting out the lure attracted the Pacific flock of birds (Kerry Chickens). After a couple of hours, the rod tip bent and line was being pulled from the rod. The birds hovered with great interest. The drag got tensioned as tight as possible and Zachary could not budge the line. The 150 pound test snapped. We never got to see what was on the line. We have decided that Stephanie picked the perfect lure and next time we will run heavier line. Note to Steph: we will look forward to a replacement when you join us in a couple of weeks. I was more lively yesterday. I made some yogart and a pork roast for dinner. It was nice to have the energy and desire to get into the galley. The pork roast was 3/4 digestible. Martin was not feeling so well last night so the meal did not sit well. This morning it was fruit, cereal and yogart for breakfast. As the sun went down, the seas grew (not my imagination) and we got hit by a series of squalls. It is uncanny how this stuff happens at night. We were on our last reef on the main and third reef on the genoa. We decided it would be best to take down the main for the night. It settled the boat down but we were still getting breaking waves on our starboard side. As i write, the sun has started to peek out. There was a big beautiful rainbow of our stern. Hopefully we are getting closer to nicer seas and sunny skies. We are about two days from Minerva Reef. If all in our favor we are planning on stopping into the reef for a night or two. We are ready for the crays! Smiles, Shannon Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.