Pacific Odyssey - Leg 6

We left Osaka at 0700hrs with a clear blue sky and very light winds.
Nanjo came by at 0630 to say good-bye; he gave us 3 boxes of Japanese
sweets.  We sampled them in Kyoto; they are small triangles of soft rice
pastry (the texture of fresh pasta) filled with a filling made of bean curd
and fruit or sesame paste, they´re not bad but probably an acquired taste!
They look beautiful and are typical of this part of Japan.  We sailed all
day in the Inland Sea, leaving it via the southeastern opening at about
2000hrs.  The sea has been calm for most of the day, like a gorgeous day in
Georgia Strait.  There were blue-colored mountains in the distance, sun
playing on the water, and just a few bigger ships and fishing boats . . .
beautiful.  Late afternoon a bit of a swell started moving the ship from
side-to-side gently and this motion has steadily increased, though it´s
still quite comfortable.  It will take all of us some getting used to again;
we have been in very still waters and tied to a dock for a long time.   We
had a fire drill this afternoon; everything went pretty well.  Molly was the
first one to yell ´man overboard,´ when she saw the soccer ball fall over
the side.  Many people stayed on deck all day; it was quite warm and
pleasant during the middle of the day.  Today was the first time for us to
sit around a table in our watches and begin the wonderful process of getting
to know each other.  Jose and Sarah B. will be reading to their watches in
the morning, Jose from "The Dun Cow" by Walter Wangerin Jr. and Sarah B.
from "The Robe" by Lloyd C. Douglas.  It is always wonderful to be read to
and these are two very good books.  Katie made lasagna for supper, it was
delicious.  At 1900hrs we raised the trysail, the foresail, and the jumbo.
Chris and Sean lashed the trysail lanyards with a bowline on to the main
mast; it can be a challenging task, they did well.  Trainees were eager to
help raise sail and most of them were involved in the sail handling.  The
Anderson boys and Arwen began their lessons again, and many trainees pulled
out their books and began to read.  We are looking forward to a long stint
together; it should take about 5 days to get into the routine of our ´life
at sea´ and for new trainees to get their ´sea legs.´  Until tomorrow,
good-night, Bonice.