December 25, 2016 Leg 2 Day 5
Lots of blue sky this morning. Watched the sun rise in the cockpit this morning, first one since the night I came upon Rarotonga.
I have to say seeing the sun brightens my world and makes my heart sing. Lots of billowy cloud on the horizon mixed with my hedges and up above patches of white cloud with patterns the same as the sand on the beach. I had a bright white Tropic bird by along with a troop of flying petrels skimming over the great desert ocean. Hardly a ripple of wind ruffles the great undulating beast this morning.
I feel like we are on a safari across this great windless desert to the other side where the trade winds wait to take us on to Hawaii.
Last night I enjoyed the stars in the dark and watched our mast light draw endless circles over head accentuating our random motion. And in our wake, a trail of bioluminescence marked our passage through the sea.
I did notice a very very fine crescent of a new moon above the horizon this morning. It will be great to watch it wax over the coming weeks.
We have about 250 miles of windless desert in front of us and we have approximate 200 hrs of fuel at 3.5 knots so … if all goes well and we get the odd breeze we should see us on the other side with some steady wind to take us to Hawaii.
Please keep those letters and cards coming, Love you ML
UPDATE
Just made tea and a snack of fresh tomatoes and crackers, and peanut butter and crackers. AND …It’s not raining!
Some of the cloud cover has lifted, but no blue sky. Wind is light but we move along steadily north, well actually North East. Had a very beautiful Black Noddy
land on the life lines while I was up in the cockpit this afternoon only a few feet from me. Tiny black web feet, beautiful shiny black body with a white cap
sharply demarcated. It had a longish pointed black bill. He didn’t stay long, as soon as I made a move for the camera he was gone.
Black Noddy
I’ve been doing some carving today after a long pause, it passes the time. Heading into some light weather for the next two days which I don’t mind so
much now that I can turn on Perkins, and still make some good headway right on course. Trying to air things out a bit as well. A moist surface in the tropics will
attract smelly bacteria in one minute, bleach is the only solution. My rain gear even though I had it washed in Raro is smelly already, yuck! so I have been going
on deck with just my harness on in the rain – feels great and I dry out in a few minutes.
Hope you are having a nice day.
Winlink is changing, so I should be able to access Hawaii soon and maybe San Diego as well.
OK sweetie that’s all for now.
Love you Bye
Glenn XXX OOO
Gidday Glenn! ‘Merry Christmas from Cameron and Claude. It was a pleasure to meet you and enjoy a few beers with you in Rarotonga as well as sharing a few stories and especially hear of some of your amazing experiences at sea.
It was also an honour to have been invited onboard your lovely vessel and share a nice drop of scotch from your ‘library’
Thank you for inspiring us and sharing your awesome stories. Fair winds and safe travels Glenn! Take care, Claude and Cameron
Merry Christmas Glenn all the way from The Atlantic shores in Florida. As always, I’ve been enjoying reading your daily journals and tracking your voyage. My Christmas wish for you is to keep safely dancing on those waters until you arrive at your destination. May the love, peace and joy of Christmas be in your heart today. Sincerely, Ellie Dufresne
As you know, haven’t been able to make contact on air with you Glenn, but have followed you with great interest here. May fair winds be with you mate and take care.
Merry Christmas Glenn to you, Perkins, and the rest of the crew. May the wind fill in and put you on on a starboard tack all the way to Hawaii.
Lawrence