Day 6, November 20, 2009
26 42. N latitude, 64 11 W longitude

Hello Everybody!

I wish I’d griped earlier, because shortly after I posted yesterday’s blog the weather changed and our wishes were granted. The clouds were replaced by a starry sky; the wind dropped into the twenties, then the teens; the Yankee was rolled out; the onerous job of hand steering became a pleasure; foul weather gear was stripped off; moods lifted–and all before dawn! As the sun came up the whomper was out and we were motorsailing in dying swells, under a cloudless sunny blue sky with the hatches open. We all felt invigorated by the sunshine and set to work. The fishing lines went out first, then all six of us bathed on the aft deck and put on shorts, short sleeved shirts, and sun screen; the damp towels are drying in the sunshine; foul weather gear has been rinsed and is drying in the sun and breeze; the cockpit has been hosed with fresh water and dried by the sun. I shoveled out the galley, wiping down surfaces and cleaning out the fridge. We had a selection of left over one pot meals for lunch, followed by ice cream for dessert, and now we’re ready for shrimp scampi in the cockpit for dinner. Leo and Chris replaced the waterlogged receiver for the auto pilot remote, so hand steering is again merely optional. The watermaker has been on for almost 5 hours making about 160 gallons of lovely fresh water; and the freezer, which refused to run when heeling more than 15 degrees, us back on line. Crew members have completed their unpacking after half the trip and done some laundry; the music system has been going constantly with the watch’s favorites; Jake has even suggested we plan to watch a movie after dinner tonight. This is the kind of day we had all looked forward to.

There appears to be a slight cloud on our horizon. According to Herb we have lost one of our days of wind. We have 400 miles to go to the wind and 350 miles of fuel. Remember our gamble? We hope it doesn’t come back to haunt us. But don’t worry. We’ve put energy saving efforts into effect: we’ll be running the engine at only 1500 rpms to conserve fuel, and we’ll have our Whomper up as much as possible. With our crew of small boat racing sailors we should be able to squeeze every inch out of every whiff of wind.

We have sent 3 photos, which should be in the vicinity of this blog. In one,Leo is driving during some of that heavy wind. The other 2 show the Sargasso weed piled on deck and caught on the deck and lifelines. We haven’t had any fish or other wildlife, but we’re watching for it.

P.S. to Herb, we had clear reception of everything you said to Melinka, who is only about half a degree away.

All the best from Avalanche enjoying the sunshine and hoping for more.

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