Saturday, November 19, 2005 9.m.

Greetings from 28 44.630N 64 42.971W. Air temperature is 76.4F, water temperature is 75.4F. It is a partly sunny day, winds are N-NE at 10-15 knots. Our speed hovers around 4 knots, running before the wind. We have occasional bursts of speed as big swells move us forward. We have logged 222 nm since leaving Bermuda. 620 nm to Soper's Hole in Tortola. Our bearing is 194. The boat's rocking has a predicable rhythm to it.

We are on the third day of the second leg of our voyage. Excitement abounds. We spotted a group of five white birds this morning cavorting above our mast - they looked like shearwaters but were not in North Atlantic bird book on board, so their identity remains a mystery. A cargo ship passed our stern during the night, headed east. We spotted the stern light of another slow moving vessel, probably a sailboat, on the same rhumbline. The water is a magnificent dark blue turquiose color.

We no longer wear our foulies. Even if we get a sprinkle, windbreakers are enough. The watches have started to become habitual.

We have discovered the essence of life at sea - an autopilot. Whether operated as a wind vane or electronic ram drive connected to the rudder, an autopilot will make minute adjustments in the course to account forvariations caused by wind and waves far more quickly and far more accurately than we mere humans. On a good watch, our course fluctuates 10 degrees on either side of the rhumbline. Running before the wind and waves, a constant struggle against 25 degree variations ensues. We regularly are a mile or two off of our rhumbline.

Everything else seems to work. The number of important repair or improvement projects have diminished. Sleeping, reading, eating and steering have taken over our lives. Things seem simple. Work for money is a distant bad dream. We are trying to savor the moment.