Into the Tropics - day 6

We have found our way to the trade winds. We made a ceremony out of moving the dining table from inside to the aft deck. It is now warm enough to eat outside, and nobody is happier about that than my stomach. Last night, we dined in high style on dorado, mashed potatoes, and peas. Cap'n Mark declared that it would be smooth sailing from here on out, with the wind and the waves at our backs. Cap'n Mark is a dirty, filthy, no-good liar.

Near the end of our luxurious meal, the winds changed and the waves tested us. At one point, Louis came very close to having everything on the table moved to his lap. We spent the night on a heading of 290 degrees. If we stayed on that track, we would make landfall in Boston, or maybe Halifax. The only options the winds gave us were to head more northerly, at 290 degrees, or due south. Hellooooo Rio. Mark and Louis chose the northerly direction because we could get more speed. Barry's argument, that going at a high rate of speed in the wrong direction just makes you more wrong, faster, fell on deaf ears. The only real difficulty with this heading was the question of comfort. Our little boat was once again thrashed by waves coming at us from the starboard side. Trying to sleep in our bunks was like trying to sleep inside a giant clothes washer.

During the day, it's a different matter. The sea is relatively calm, and the sun is shining. We do, in fact, have the steady 20 knot westerly trade winds pushing us ever-closer to St. Lucia. Right now, flying fish are jumping all around the boat and blue skies prevail. We've just finished eating lunch and everybody is retiring to their chill-out spots. Barry, who did not sleep last night because of the waves, is kipping on the aft deck. Tom is in his quarters, also sleeping. Mark is inside, headphones on, watching yet another really bad B movie. Louis and I are up top.

We are half a day ahead of where the Maverick Dream was during last year's ARC. In spite of the challenges of existing on a tiny chunk of fiberglass atop an endless expanse of ocean, we are all well. Nobody has seen another boat in the past two days. In spite of Polly's reports back on our position, I choose to believe they are all behind us.