Pacific Odyssey - Leg 7

It´s been another incredible day; we are now 5 days into the passage and
everyone is settling nicely into the routine of life at sea, it´s a
wonderful feeling, it´s felt within the entire community.  We understand how
things work, we are used to the motion, we´re beginning to feel like the
ship is ´home.´  Within just 5 days many projects have been started and many
´clubs´ have begun; we have a very self-motivated group, it´s exciting to
see.  The sun shone brilliantly for us again though the air is steadily
getting cooler.  I think the combination is perfect, similar to late Spring
or early Fall weather; the heat of the sun is still comforting during the
day and the evenings are comfortably cool.  The air is quite humid and one
feels quite ´damp´ when the temperature drops.  We are wearing our pants and
down coats, hats etc.  The sunset was beautiful and Skipper, Becca, and
Leighsa saw the ´green flash´ just after the sun set; Leighsa was ecstatic,
shrieking her excitement.  The stars are out and Gillian and I spent a few
minutes looking for constellations; Gillian has gotten to know quite a few
and has been teaching anyone interested.  Once the sun was down, trainees
and crew hung around on deck in groups chatting.  Steve brought out Jose´s
guitar and sang.  Arwen baked mint chocolate chip cookies and Katie made
vanilla steamed milk, a delicious treat.  This morning the wind picked up
and sail was raised.  The mainsail, the foresail, the jumbo, the jib, the
main topsail, and the fisherman staysail went up . . . wonderful.  We were
heeled slightly to port, with a gentle forward and aft rocking motion, very
lulling.  We sailed the entire day at a good speed of 6-8 knots, it was
idyllic, perfect; some of the best sailing we´ve done in awhile.  There was
another meeting of the Writer´s Guild.  We practiced writing Haiku and
started a short story.  Rona led a drawing lesson in the foc´sle this
evening.  James did a great job on some of the exercises Rona set out, using
a toothbrush as the subject.  Jacob finished his lure and had it trailing on
the line for the day; his is the first home-made lure we´ve fished with.
Blake´s lure is nearly finished; it´s titled the ´porksicle´ lure.  He
sealed a pig surfing on a surfboard in the interior of his lure.  Antony
made a lure mold today out of a rubbery material, something new.  Skipper
shared with a large group of trainees the process of planning an offshore
route.  Afterwards Sarah B. continued with those who were interest in
planning a possible route for the next offshore voyage.  Caley and Sean were
busy this afternoon, on the foredeck with pilot charts, cruising manuals
etc. starting to look at places the Grace could visit and when.  Before
supper everyone listened to the voices of Steve, Noah, Mark, Tristan, Jacob,
and Simon repeatedly calling "Marco" followed by answering voices "Polo."
This is a ´catch me´ game played by kids on the school ground where one
person with eyes closed tries to tag the others using their voices as clues
to where they are.  Catcher calls out "Marco" and those being caught answer
"Polo;" it was fun to watch and fun to play; my boys are very fortunate with
the relationships trainees form with them.  For supper we had Calzones;
Chris E. helped roll the dough and fill them, a lot of work; they were
delicious.  At 1900 we lowered every sail except the foresail.  This is
always a lot of work and can take up to an hour; everyone helped out with
the sail handling, it was great, it´s a lot of fun when everyone does it
together.  We lowered sail to decrease our speed because there is some
stormy weather ahead and Skipper is hoping to let it pass before we get
there.  Hopefully we will catch the end of it and have some good sailing.
We´ll see.  Sara R. finished knitting her second pair of incredibly
beautiful and colorful socks today.  She told me she was giving them to her
mom, but tonight she presented them to me!  I was thrilled and completely
surprised; a very generous gift.  Sara R. has a third ball of sock wool with
which she will knit her mom a pair of socks, starting in a few days. On
deck, Jose is now playing guitar while Caley sings, it sounds beautiful;
they have sung together before, on legs 4 and 5.  Selena wishes her parents
a Happy Anniversary:  "Mom and Dad, Happy Anniversary!  Be sure to take some
alone time, love Selena."  We are looking forward to another day of sun and
light winds, until then, good-night, Bonice.