Friday, November 11 at 1:30 p.m.

Everyone on shore should rejoice that you have not joined this voyage. Last night we endured 45-50 knot winds - sustained. It veered from SW to NW. Seas were up to 20'. Concentrated squalls with embedded lightning, driving rain, soaking spray - we were not to be envied.Visibility was 10' or so. In the heavy seas, Jay's computer was smashed, we lost our SIMRAD chartplotter, bilge pump appears to have broken beyond repair, and our auto-pilot concked out. We spent the last 20 hours driving instead of using an autopilot to steer. Foul weather gear was not built for this weather - we were all cold and soaked. Quality must be a relative term. We are exhausted. All of us experienced hallucintations last night. At one point I jumped up from the steering wheel to dodge a fishing net in the water. Night time is the scariest, even though there are no other vessels around to hit. We can't see to waves coming. Sleeping is impossible. If you lay down, you are tossed in the air as the boat pitches, and fall heavily on your most recent bruise.

Current position is 35.18.032 N 065.09.747 W. Seas are a relatively calm 10' with a quiet wind coming from the NW at 25-30 knots. We all commented that up to last night, we would have been nervous in these conditions, but now it seems easy. We are less than 200 miles from Bermuda. Anticipate entering the harbor Saturday night or Sunday morning - all under manual steering. We will attempt to get the autopilot repaired and will replace the bilge pump. Bermuda is less than halfway to Tortola. We will have 6 to 8 days offshore to our final desination. Stay tuned. Donna