Pacific Odyssey - Leg 6

At 0800 this morning, the ´bite´ was out of the air; it felt softer and
slightly warmer.  The sun shone for most of the day and the seas are flat
calm.  The foresail came down about 1200 hrs so we are now just motoring;
none of our sails are up.  There is still a swell rolling the ship
side-to-side, but we´re not complaining; life seems pretty easy.  Adam has
organized a Chess Tournament with 21 players, ranging in age from Skipper
(44yrs) to Simon (6yrs).  Games have started as we have only a week left at
sea. After that our life will be quite different, less together.  Sean has
dedicated his wooden 40x40 cm elephant, Chad, as the trophy; he found Chad
floating in the harbor in Osaka just when we were leaving.  Sean, Steve, and
Chris have not forgotten the Golf Course; they were waiting for some calmer
seas in order to test out the course.  Within the first 10 minutes though,
they lost the ball overboard, which quickly ended everything.   We caught
another fish this morning, a small tuna; we let him go.  Jordan did work
watch with fore watch today, sanding and oiling the cap rails around the
edge of the ship.   Upkeep on a wooden ship is constant, especially when it
is as well-used as the Grace is.  Skipper started celestial navigation with
Maddie and Steve today.  He gave them a quick lesson on the theory behind
using celestial bodies to navigate, and then instructed them on the use of
the sextant.  They took two sights, a morning and an afternoon sight.  Once
they had both their sights, he showed them how to plot their information on
a special chart and how to use this information to find their position.  It
is a fascinating process.  More trainees have signed up for a session;
Skipper and Jordan are taking turns teaching. As long as there is sun, they
will continue the lessons.  At 1600 hrs the engine was turned off and we let
the ship drift to a stop.  It rocked back and forth, side-to-side in the
swell, but stayed relatively stationary.  Antony explained how a ´swim stop´
works at sea.  We swim in our watch groups, each watch getting 15 minutes of
´pool´ time; the watches on deck are on shark watch.  The heads (boat
toilets) are not to be used while the ´pool´ is open.   Swimming in this
huge ocean out of sight of land is an exhilarating experience, one we never
get tired of; nearly everyone took advantage of the opportunity.  Everyone
was very excited; there were rumors all day that we may be having a swim
stop some time today.  The water was quite cold, but no one shortened their
allotted 15 minutes of water time.   The color of the water is incredible,
an intense royal blue that seems brilliant and solid simultaneously; the
clarity is like nothing else, it is amazing to look around you under the
water, watching the bubbles, the hull, people´s legs etc. through a mask;
it´s beautiful.  We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset tonight, very orange and
spread out.  We are enjoying our extended daylight; it´s a treat to sit on
deck after supper without our headlamps.  Leighsa, James, Diana, Sarah B.,
Susan, and myself enjoyed several rounds of SCRABBLE again tonight on the
after deck, playing while the sun went down.  Arwen and Maddie baked
chocolate chip cookies tonight . . . we are well fed.  The night is
beautifully clear; Gillian has pulled out the northern hemisphere star chart
we picked up at Mauna Kea on the big island of Hawaii in July.  She has been
able to find several of the constellations she learned on Leg 1 and 2 and is
teaching them to the new trainees.  There is always something to learn,
something new to pick up.  Until tomorrow, good-night, Bonice.