Pacific Odyssey - Leg 3

It´s a nice night.  People are in the hold reading and writing, others are in groups up on deck around the wheel and on the cabin house, chatting mostly.  Karen just came off of watch; she was having a fun conversation about music with her watch.  In the aftcabin Skipper is playing the mandolin and Jose is playing the guitar. They are jamming with
Nickel Creek, figuring out chords, melodies and lyrics.  The sailing is very comfortable; the motion is quite regular with the occasional deep dip as the ship rolls from side to side.  Every now and then a wave makes it over the rail, surprising whoever is nearby.  Sitting in the stern in my harness, looking up at the dark sky and the silhouette of the mast, I remember how special this is, I try not to take it for granted or, to not even notice it, my mind full of other things.  We are making steady progress, our speed going down to 3-4 knots last night.  We lowered the trysail this morning and set an unreefed main.  Our speed has stayed between 6-8 knots for most of the day.  We have been able to get to know each other better just by spending hours around a table eating together.  It´s good; it´s amazing how much time we do spend eating and cleaning up each day.  In starboard watch, Kelsey shared details of her life, and when given the option of any job for lunch dishes, ended up with the ´big uglies.´  Dishes are done by the entire watch with the eating-size dishes being cleaned and dried at the table and the ´big uglies,´ the bowls, pans, baking trays etc., being done at the sink.  All counter and table tops get scraped and/or wiped down, and the floors get swept, scrubbed and mopped.  We can easily spend 2 hours below having lunch, chatting and cleaning up.  It was cloudier today which was nice, though we are still just wearing suits and shorts or just shorts for the guys.  At night we pull on a light T-shirt, sometimes a hoody; the temperature is quite perfect.  Juniors wrote their exam today and did well.  Seniors had a chart work lesson by Jose.  They learned about running fixes and how to allow for current when plotting a course.  Workwatch started today with Jordan.  Tristan did a major ´rig walk,´ checking over every part of the running rigging on the ship.  Jaimie and Matt painted lifelines, while Krista and Robyn were cleaning the engine room, a very sweaty job, it´s so warm in there.  We were unable to buy a Cook Islands flag in Victoria, so we are sewing one.  We have a group of trainees, Claire, Sam, Jen and Susan who have taken it on and are doing a great job.  More trainees are keeping clean with the deck-bucket-over-the-side routine.  Out at sea, a salty wash and rinse can make one feel quite a bit better, albeit it might be more emotional than actually clean.  We all have our small daily routines to fill in for routines we have at home, and which, when we return home, will change from ordinary routine, to moments of luxury.  The sky is dark, the moon is hiding, and clouds are hiding the stars.  Stargazing will have to wait for another night.  We are all well, falling into the patterns of days at sea.  This is it, good night,
Bonice.