28 27 00 N
51 15 00 W
0720 UTC
05.10.08
s/y flying cloud
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a beautiful morning. it's started - the hint of light separating sky from sea. aft of us, the milky way is casting a reflection on gentle waves. jupiter shines like a beacon, a bright point of light in a moonless night. it's great, in my estimation, that the moon is around during the day; my watch relief slept through the alarm and i got to extend by an hour, at which i started to feel selfish and guilty and decided it was well time to do the wakeup call. not before, however, seeing the first signs of the forthcoming day.
heading east is a whole different thing and i a pleased at my luck (and i suppose that perseverence and effort to get 4,000 more sea miles before returning to the evil triangle has paid off).
about a day away from antigua ~ more like 36 hours i think, i confided in matt that i wanted to see the stars from a boat going the other direction. heading east is certainly different. the crew is different. the learning curve is certainly still quite steep. but many of the parts i enjoyed are still here. sailing is where it's at. and even when we're motor-sailing there are good things to enjoy. i believe i fully exhausted my violin repertoire tonight in my extended watch. i took long breaks ~ realizing one does not simply play violin for 3 hours at once after barely playing for a long time. the frame just doesn't want to handle that kind of stress. better to work into it and play a little every day over a longer period. still some longer sessions yield actual progress. the other day i played some bass after being away from antigua (and playing at all) for around 3 and a half weeks and totally paid for it. not a hefty price, but my hand was feeling it for a couple days.
i am enjoying.
tonight i made cookies ~ half the sugar and 'kick start' trail mix. we got these great brown eggs from bailey's in antigua and i think that and real butter have made a difference. as tod says:
