This is why we do this…

Ok, it’s 2:30am. The light winds of this race have drawn out the first half to a painful 9 days. We’ve drifted for hours, prayed for wind, sacrificed anything we could think of to Mother Nature/King Neptune, and taken stock of the onboard food supplies.

[editor’s note: I hope they didn’t offer Josh’s shoes!]

But that was then, and now it is a whole different race.

Two days ago we had a 198 mile day… oh, so close to that 200 mark. Undaunted, and newly challenged our team rose to the challenge to knock of 215 miles yesterday. I just crunched the numbers, and we are looking pretty good for today too. We are in the trades. They blow all day, all night. A bit off pace from normal, we are seeing steady 15, occasionally gusting to 20. The seas have gotten more organized, and the surf is indeed up. Top recorded speed so far, 15.3 knots. Nicely done, Jon.

Life on board has fallen into good routines. As a group, we have gotten to know the boat and to know each other. Our onboard communication and teamwork continues to progress, and I think it will show in the end. Most of the magazines have been burned thru, and all the bad jokes have come and gone… now we are all stuck with each other! But we have a fun bunch aboard; the interaction is great, except that I have a hard time falling asleep when I hear the hoots and laughter in the cockpit.

Good times indeed.

Way up north of us, the 100 foot maxi Alfa Romeo is blasting along, gunning for a new course record. They got to start after all the weather anomalies that we had to deal with had dispersed, so they get to sail a much more direct route, along with the fleet of 70+ foot boats. Down here to the south, we are slowly being overrun by the 50 footers. Saw one off on the distance in the late afternoon, and are thinking it was the Japanese Team in Tachyon III.

And tonight the moon came out. The night started off coal black, with the only the nights from the instruments and the eerie glow of phosphorescence. But early on, the moon came up, peeked out of the clouds, and wow, what an evening. Trucking along, 9, 10, 11 knots with regular bursts over 12, with a lunar-esque sea scape surrounding us. Yes, this is why we do what we do…

Wish us a good watch, and we’ll catch you sometime tomorrow…

Wayne Zittel & the J World Team