We made it!

We're cleared in and looking for breakfast with Kathy & Pat. More when we get to a computer!

Land ho!

Kelly spotted land low on the horizon off the starboard forequarter at about 11:25 HST. We were about 40 nm offshore at the time. Nicholas would have seen it first, but the low finger of land was almost invisible without polarized sunglasses.

We still can't make out the volcano, but since about 10:30 HST, we've been seeing bright plumes of salmon-colored smoke above the scattered cumulus on the horizon. Hawaii is so close we can almost taste it.

Aloha!

S/V Samadhi V - Passage from Costa Rica to Hawaii, Day 31

Date: 30 May 2009 1900 UTC (0900 Samadhi Time)
Distance sailed in last 24 hours: 120 nm
Distance to Honokohau, Hawaii: 130 nm
Latitude: 18 42.464 N
Longitude: 154 29.075 W
COG: 267M
SOG: 5.2 kts under sail
Wind: 8 kts NE
Seas: 2 ft ENE swell, .5 ft wind ripples
Weather: 50% Cloud Cover
Barometric Pressure: 1014.8, steady
Sea Temperature: 80 F

Today dawned with a lightly freshening wind and the prospect of arriving at the marina in under 24 hours. To say we're excited would be putting it mildly. Try as we might, we still cannot see the island of Hawaii some 40 miles distant at it's closest point.

Yesterday, there was almost no wind, so right after sending the update email, we fired up our main engine and began motorsailing. It was slow going, but at least we were making some progress. The light and variable conditions persisted throughout the day and night, and we were able to get in a few loads of laundry without the washing machine complaining about being tilted one way and the other. Around dawn the wind freshened and moved forward to the beam, giving us a knot of additional boatspeed.

Yesterday was a fairly quiet day aboard Samadhi. We're now doing fewer maintenance tasks in favor of taking care of them from the comfort of a mooring. This leaves us more opportunity to relax and spend time together. It also gives Kelly and Phillip more time for catching up on sleep! The seas continued in their near flat state, and we had sun throughout the day. Rain squalls have ceased to darken the skies, and in the still air, it got pretty warm down below decks.

The last of Alexander's excellent shortbread cookies are consumed. It's now back to Kinder eggs and Oreos for the remainder of our journey. Nicholas is looking forward to having some biscuit cookies with La Lechera (sweetened condensed milk) for a change.

In an effort to consume the last of our ground beef, Phillip prepared "meat cake" for dinner. Just as we were putting it in the oven, the clicker on one of the fishing reels started singing, and Nicholas was yelling "FISH!!!" before you could blink (his reaction time for this can be measured in microseconds). Up on deck, Phillip took the rod, the same one that hooked the billfish we lost a few days ago, while Kelly stopped the boat and Nicholas reeled in the second vacant line. Alexander was there to provide support and be a general gofer in case any of us needed something. The fish struck the line on the port quarter, the one which had only the spectra backing attached to a 10" chugger with rainbow-colored skirt rigged with double 8/0 hooks--a doppelgänger for the one that interested a certain sailfish north of the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica.

Once the boat was stopped, Kelly grabbed our fish fighting belt and strapped it around Phillip's hips. The fish was running wildly, and Phillip was determined to get this one aboard. As she got nearer the boat, she sounded, straight down. Yes, after that little move, we were almost positive that there was a tuna of some variety on the business end of the line. Phillip fought the powerful fish for another ten minutes or so before the fish surrendered. Sure enough, we saw the striped body of a beautiful skipjack tuna. Kelly took the rod while Phillip gaffed the fish and brought her over the lifelines. On deck, the skipjack put up very little resistance despite her size. None of us were able to lift her without using both hands. She must have weighed in at 60 pounds or more. We didn't know that Skipjack grew so large, this one was as large or larger than the yellowfin we caught earlier in our passage. Smaller skipjack are commonly used for live bait for marlin and other billfish
. We wonder what could you catch with a 60 pound baitfish...

After a few photos, Phillip was able to start processing her without much trouble. Nicholas helped his father clean the fish while Kelly made sure the meat cake was cooking and Alexander played down below. Like billfish, skipjack tuna have a slit where they can retract their dorsal fin. We discovered this after we couldn't find it anymore and went searching. The armor plating on this skipjack's back was commensurately more tenacious then the previous smaller specimens we've landed. It took a full fifteen minutes to get through the first section. Before long though, Phillip had the four fillets (tuna logs) off the football-shaped body and downstairs to complete the processing--more than 30 pounds of boneless tuna. It should be noted that at no time during this process did anyone slice open his or her knee.

For dinner, we forwent the meat cake in favor of fresh sashimi over the last of our sushi rice. We managed to consume a little more than a eighth of the processed "tuna logs". The boys can each eat about twice as much sashimi as a hungry adult. We have no idea where it all goes. The scraps and cuttings from the fillets made an incredibly flavorful stock that we're looking forward to using in a fish soup. For breakfast this morning, we feasted on the enormous roe sautéed in bacon drippings and finished with a maple and lime reduction sauce. The recipe came from a cookbook written by another cruiser who is a French-trained chef.

We've got the lines out again this morning. Who knows? Maybe we'll get lucky again today...

S/V Samadhi V - Passage from Costa Rica to Hawaii, Day 30

Date: 29 May 2009 1900 UTC (0900 Samadhi Time)
Distance sailed in last 24 hours: 79.1 nm
Distance to Honokohau, Hawaii: 250 nm
Latitude: 18m 28.238 N
Longitude: 152 25.924 W
COG: 266 M
SOG: 3.5 kts under sail
Wind: 5 kts NE
Seas: 2 ft E swell, .3 ft wind ripples
Weather: 60% Cloud Cover
Barometric Pressure: 1014.0, steady
Sea Temperature: 79 F

Our Garmin chartplotter (GPSmap 5212, excellent gear!) is finally showing Samadhi and Hawaii on the same screen! This is so exciting for us, as we have been looking at Samadhi on an empty blue screen for quite a while now! Of course, it helps that it's set to display at .75" : 20 nm scale.

The wind continues to do little to assist progress towards our goal. The Pacific once again looks placid and tranquil as a lake, only impossibly more vast. The tiny swells and minuscule ripples gurgle against the hull as we glide upright through the clear azure waters. The experience is akin to being at a 'beachhouse', you look outside and see ocean while hearing the little ripples against the sides of the hull. We aren't heeling noticeably, and the waves barely move Samadhi. She gently sways back and forth as the swells each give us a little push towards the islands. Given the fair weather and our still significant supply of food, it's not a bad way to spend the day. We only wish we had a say in the matter! The sunrises and sunsets have partially made up for it. When you get a sunset that keeps two young boys fascinated to sit and *watch* it, that is something. They actually complain when they miss it!

The wind picked up enough for us to do what we'd calling sailing for a few hours yesterday afternoon. It moved forward (was coming from slightly ahead of us) so that our apparent wind increased noticeably, and we were able to make four or five knots under main and genoa. It was insufficient to put the (heavy) staysail to use, to give you some idea of how little wind it takes to get us excited right now. We could use a massive Code Zero on a furler about now if anyone would like to deliver one out to us.

With the sail slatting and being pushed against the shrouds (when we were sailing dead downwind), our mainsail has experienced more than its share of chafe in the last couple of days. We've also found that our hated Dutchman Sail Flaking system has chafed completely through a nice little patch of sail. We're going to be making good friends with some sailmaker once we get settled in for refitting, probably near Honolulu. Summary: We don't like the Dutchman Sail Flaking System. In the two years we've had it, it has been an endless source of headaches--since day one! We're definitely going back to a stack pack-type system with lazy jacks.

Starting yesterday morning, we've been picking up US Coast Guard transmissions from the islands, the first radio chatter we've heard since leaving the Gulf of Nicoya. We're also within range of the US weather radio forecasts. This is great, but it means we're nursing no illusions about the conditions changing any time soon. Sometimes it would be nice to have blind hope.

Kelly's parents, Kathy and Pat have also been keeping an eye on the weather and calling several times a day. They're comfortably installed in Puako, north of Kona along the coast, and Kathy's already working out a vague itinerary for us so that we can make the most of our time together before they have to leave for the mainland. Given the Kona winds, we may stay on at the cottage at Puako for a few days after they leave. Kelly and Phillip are looking forward to sleeping through the night for the next little while.

Yesterday at snack, we broke out Alexander's shortbread cookies. They were even better than the last batch! It's wonderful that Alexander is getting interested in baking again. (Desserts have always always interested him more than savory creations in the kitchen.) We're looking forward to him perfecting his cookie technique with the next batch! He promised Kathy on the phone yesterday that he'd make some for them in the cottage.

Nicholas finished the last of his Calvert assignments yesterday (and Alexander isn't far behind). Now all that remains is for him to review for and take his last set of unit exams. Basically, once a month the boys each take a test for each subject, and we scan them in and email them to their advisory teachers in Maryland. The grades are back within a few days along with a letter of feedback for the student from their "friends". It's been a great system. We'll be sorry when the boys go back to public school in the fall.

According to Pat, depending on visibility, we should be able to see the peak of the volcano from a couple hundred miles away. We're within range today, and we'll be keeping our eyes peeled for a little peak poking its nose above the horizon. The boys have each vowed to be the first to sight land. Nicholas reported when we got up that there was too much haze this morning. Maybe we'll have better luck later on.

Since our speeds have dwindled, we've been seeing a sharp drop in the number of uninvited guests aboard. There's been only one (giant!) flying fish on deck in the last three days. Of course, he managed to nestle himself into a coil of line inside the cockpit, so he was clearly an overachiever. On the other hand, we're going slow enough that we're able to watch the jellyfish pass us as they glide by. It's all about trade-offs, right?

S/V Samadhi V - Passage from Costa Rica to Hawaii, Day 29

Date: 28 May 2009 1900 UTC (0900 Samadhi Time)
Distance sailed in last 25 hours: 132 nm
Distance to Honokohau, Hawaii: 328 nm
Latitude: 18 15.486 N
Longitude: 151 03.926 W
COG: 255M
SOG: 3.0 kts under sail
Wind: 5 kts E
Seas: 1 ft E swell, no significant wind waves
Weather: 30% Cloud Cover
Barometric Pressure: 1013.5, steady
Sea Temperature: 78 F

Slow progress continues in very light wind.

Now that we're on the Hawaii side of Longitude 150 W, we've moved our clocks back for the last time to -1000, Hawaii Standard Time (HST). This will be our last time change until we leave the islands, and we're still not in a place that observes Daylight Savings Time!

Things continue much the same aboard Samadhi. The wind has continued to be light throughout yesterday and last night. Early this morning the wind nearly stopped altogether. We are currently back to floating on glassy seas as we were earlier in our voyage. There's a certain existential symmetry in this, but right now we're having trouble finding detached appreciation for such things. Sailing downwind with such a light breeze sometimes leads to a tremendous racket from the mainsail slatting. It is not necessarily a tranquil existence.

Kathy and Pat checked in from the big island shortly after lunch. They scouted out Honokohau Harbor and the available space for us. Assuming no one else shows up in the next couple of days, it looks like we'll have a secure place to berth Samadhi while we have fun exploring the island.

Much to our delight and not a little amazement, we still have plenty of fresh food aboard Samadhi. The fresh from the farm produce we were able to procure with the help of our Tico friends combined with our efficient refrigeration systems has kept us in fresh fruit and veggies for the entire voyage. Just yesterday, we were eating fresh eggplant, broccoli, carrots, and peppers. This is about as good as we could have hoped for, especially considering that this is our first extended passage. We're quite pleased.

Considering all this abundance, we've been doing our best to be "gourmands" so that we can consume as much of the things that may be confiscated upon our arrival as possible. Yesterday, we decided we needed something sweet to complement all the savory creations. Not only that, but we had some extra homemade bread that was beyond the sandwich phase. Phillip solved the problem with a bread pudding, complete with Southern whiskey sauce. It was delicious! Then, not to be outdone, Alexander baked up some more shortbread cookies with a little guidance from Kelly. The cookies weren't cool in time for a tasting yesterday, but we're all looking forward to snack time.

We picked up a ship on the AIS at over 20 miles. This was the confirmation we have been looking for to prove our AIS antenna issues have been solved. We are very happy that we don't need to climb into the lazarette and solder any more coax connectors!

Nicholas is now on the last lesson of his Calvert school year, and Alexander isn't far behind. Nicholas is hoping to finish up his testing before our arrival. If the winds continue so light and variable, it may happen yet. The boys are very much looking forward to a summer without lessons.

Based on our progress of the last couple of days, we're probably looking at two to three more days underway. We're very much looking forward to, as Kathy puts it, kissing the land, but we're content to bide our time and let the wind and the ocean decide when that will be -- at least until we're within motoring range!

S/V Samadhi V - Passage from Costa Rica to Hawaii, Day 28

Date: 27 May 2009 1800 UTC (0900 Samadhi Time)
Distance sailed in last 24 hours: 151 nm
Distance to Honokohau, Hawaii: 456 nm
Latitude: 18 32.005 N
Longitude: 148 47.273 W
COG: 256M
SOG: 6.2 kts under sail
Wind: 10 kts ENE
Seas: 3 ft E swell, < 1 ft wind waves
Weather: 30% Cloud Cover
Barometric Pressure: 1014.8, steady
Sea Temperature: 76 F

Light winds attack us once more!

The wind dropped precipitously around mid-morning yesterday and became shifty in nature. When in the vicinity of a squall, the wind builds, and we have a short period of good sailing, followed by a calm period once the squall passes. We are sailing in fits and starts, at one point making a 50 degree course change in a wind shift!

In the late afternoon, we jibed after being forced far north of our desired course. Given that on either tack, we were looking at a bearing significantly off of our desired track, we decided to rig the pole and sail wing and wing, trying to keep pointed as much toward the big island as possible. Through the night, the squalls became less frequent, and we settled into a slow downwind passage in 5-8 knots of breeze. We are going approximately the correct direction, but not nearly as fast as we were hoping. We can put up the spinnaker and sail faster at angles to wind if the breeze increases a bit more.

It's a challenge to put into words how disappointing it is to be so (relatively) close to our goal and have the weather stop cooperating, weather that is generally renowned for its consistency and reliability, as much as any weather can be. Still, unlike the beginning of the passage where we were truly becalmed, we are continuing to make steady progress towards our destination. It's some small consolation to be less than 500 nm in a straight line from Honokohau.

The closer the wind brings us, the more tempting it is to fire up the big Perkins, and motorsail the rest of the way. As Pat mentioned, we have easily more than a day's worth of fuel reserves. On the other hand, they're called reserves for a reason, and we're not likely to tap into them until we're confident we're within stabbing distance of the harbor.

The lack of wind has led to smooth seas. The skies are mostly clear, and we enjoyed a wonderful sunset in the evening. The sunrise showed us large squalls all round us that lit up with glorious colors.

Alexander and Nicholas are getting very close to being done with their lessons. Phillip and Kelly are very proud of their hard work. After school yesterday, the boys invented a game using their toys from the Kinder eggs. It was quite complex in rules and execution, having multiple rounds and an intricate scoring system. Kelly took a video of the boys playing to make sure we'd remember it later.

The weather continues to grow colder the further we sail from Central America. The rain coming out of the squalls yesterday felt decidedly chilly! When the skies cleared in the afternoon, we left the shade of the cockpit for a patch of sun on the aft deck. We can't even remember the last time we sought out the sun for warmth! With the light breeze coming from astern, blowing directly down the companionway, night watches were particularly cool. Phillip went so far as to dig out the woolen socks from deep in his clothing locker. We may look silly to some, sailing through the Tropics in sweaters and stocking feet, but at least we're comfortable!

S/V Samadhi V - Passage from Costa Rica to Hawaii, Day 27

Date: 26 May 2009 1800 UTC (0900 Samadhi Time)
Distance sailed in last 24 hours: 186 nm
Distance to Honokohau, Hawaii: 590 nm
Latitude: 18 56.168 N
Longitude: 146 25.539 W
COG: 270M
SOG: 7.2 kts under sail
Wind: 9 kts ENE
Seas: 3 ft E swell, 1 ft wind waves
Weather: 50% Cloud Cover
Barometric Pressure: 1015.4, steady
Sea Temperature: 75 F

< 600 nm to Honokohau!

We have gone two days now without any aquatic stowaways aboard Samadhi! Although we have seen plenty of flying fish, so far they have kept to their watery element and off of our decks. Perhaps this is natural selection at work. We find no way to account for the absence of the squid, and they aren't talking.

The cloud formations have been fascinating lately. Multiple layers of heavy clouds at different altitudes, some quite massive, have surrounded us. The uppermost layer is obviously windblown ice to a great degree. Closest to the ocean are the puffy cumulus clouds we see so many of, but now in groups. We feel sure that all of these clouds are trying to tell us something, we just don't know what it is! (Hopefully, it isn't "turn back!")

Our wind continues to slack off from duty at night. Usually, we have been able to maintain slow progress, but sometimes the swells cause the boat to roll and distort our sail shape. Trying to nurse the boat along at 5 knots at night, when there isn't a moon and the swells are bouncing you about, isn't much fun. Still, just at dawn the winds pipe up again, and the larger waves begin to return from seemingly out of nowhere. The sunrises have been particularly spectacular lately with fluffy purple clouds silhouetted against the high, pink and orange cirrus in the pale yellow and blue sky. There's no question that Kelly and Phillip are ready to have nights of undisturbed slumber again, but they'll miss the peace of these solitary moments in the vast expanse of the Pacific.

The boobies that were omnipresent at the start of our voyage have given way to another sea bird that we don't know by name. They are a smidgen smaller than the boobies and fly with the gently curving, concave wings of gulls in children's drawings. Their bodies are brilliant white, compact, and have hardly any tail to speak of. Their bright orange beak and black webbed feet strike a stark counterpoint to their plumage. For several minutes at a stretch, any number of these birds will sketch squawking circles around Samadhi, presumably riding the air currents we leave in our wake. We are all now thoroughly convinced of the fallacy of the "There are birds, so we must be near land." myth. Not a day has gone by without a sighting of our feathered friends, no matter how many hundreds or thousands of miles we are from the nearest patch of dirt.

With over a gallon of freshly squeezed lime juice available, Phillip decided to make up some ginger limeade. He didn't have a recipe, so he improvised one. Extraction of the fresh ginger was done by steeping sliced ginger in the simple syrup while it was being 'cooked'. The result is delicious, but not as 'ginger spicy' as Phillip wanted. Maybe the secret is to press fresh ginger, and avoid using heat extract it. This will bear further investigation.

For dinner, Kelly continued tweaking her recipe for homemade sloppy joes, this time served open-faced on Phillip's homemade bread. Absolutely delicious! The boys say they'd never even tasted them before this voyage, but they were quick converts. For dessert, we had another puffy pancake, using up four more eggs (yes!) in the process. We have been especially trying to use up our ground beef prior to arrival in Hawaii, and as of today it looks like we are nearing the end. We're hoping to have very little for Customs to confiscate when we arrive at Honokohau!

Phillip & Kelly have each just finished reading Richard Rhodes's fascinating, fairly technical history of the atomic bomb, The Making of the Atomic Bomb, written in the late '80's. (Thank you Leslie!) It is quite a tome, but even so, we can't recommend it highly enough. The stories of the aftermath of Little Boy in Hiroshima are unbelievably chilling. Our boys have each been reading stories of Jewish persecution by the Nazis as part of their Calvert curriculum (Ann Frank's Diary of a Young Girl and Number the Stars -- about Jewry in Denmark). Then, a few days ago, Alexander started playing a game on his Nintendo DS called "Panzer Tactics", which as one might guess, lets you battle Axis vs. Allies over Europe. All of this has offered quite an interesting opportunity for discussion about WWII and war in general. It seemed entirely appropriate in light of Memorial Day. Then, just as we were talking about the recent US actions in the Middle East (and Phillip's time there), the bo
at rolled suddenly, and from the galley below, we heard an awful crash!

We use Corelware (highly durable glass) dishes aboard Samadhi. A complete set came with the boat in a handy teak holder mounted on the wall, and we saw no reason to replace them. Corelware are known for their shatter resistance (Nobody says unbreakable anymore.), and they generally are. Living on a rolling boat leads to inevitable drops, and the dishes usually just bounce. However, sometimes if you drop one *just right* they will break. Oh boy! When Corelware breaks, it explodes like a bomb into a bazillion little razor-sharp shards. Corelware must have been initially developed as a weapon for the military. We spend tedious time crawling around and cleaning the deck 3 times to make sure that we get all of the glass up. Even after our best efforts, we find little glass splinters stuck in our feet. We've got a new slogan for them: "Corelware, be afraid!"

We had a few phone calls again yesterday, this time from Kelly's parents. Kathy called a couple of times, and then Pat called later in the evening. It had been about a week since we last spoke. Kathy was eager to talk about their arrival on Hawaii in time to be our welcoming committee and the progress of Cortney's wedding preparations. We also heard about the passing of a close family friend after his difficult, year-long battle against cancer. Our hearts go out to his widow and family in their time of grief.

S/V Samadhi V - Passage from Costa Rica to Hawaii, Day 26

Date: 25 May 2009 1800 UTC (0900 Samadhi Time)
Distance sailed in last 24 hours: 194 nm
Distance to Honokohau, Hawaii: 773 nm
Latitude: 18 02.789 N
Longitude: 143 19.638 W
COG: 273M
SOG: 8.7 kts under sail
Wind: 16 kts ENE
Seas: 5 ft E swell, 3 ft wind waves
Weather: 60% Cloud Cover
Barometric Pressure: 1014.9, rising
Sea Temperature: 76 F

Happy Memorial Day Monday to all of our friends and family in the US. We hope you're all having a wonderful long weekend. Out here on the ocean, we've gotta admit that we're envious of those of you getting a day off.

The night's calms continued yesterday morning until they convinced us it was a good idea to put up the spinnaker. We keep trying new ways to launch it. We're confident we'll have a reliable system by the time we arrive in the islands. Unfortunately, winds continue to be fickle some of the time. We had a period in the afternoon with winds over 20 knots, but they tapered off as evening descended. We spent the night with wind between 8 to 15 knots, with the higher winds around squalls. It wasn't until around the time of the last watch change at 1330Z (4:30 a.m. Samadhi Time) that it began to freshen again.

This morning finds us sailing in a much better breeze, and surfing on the fairly square seas. Samadhi takes off with great eagerness down the face of waves, with spray shooting out from the side of the hull. We reach the bottom of the trough going well over 12 knots, then slow to 8.5 or 9 as we await the next wave. Fun!

Around mid-morning yesterday, we had a sat phone call from the boys' Abuela Linda in New York. It was great to chat with her. Nicholas regaled her with the story of the tuna that we caught with one of the lures she gave us. He must be prescient because...

We were relaxing in the early afternoon when all of a sudden, we heard the clicker on one of the reels go off. The boys scrambled to get their harnesses on while Phil and Kelly rushed on deck without pause. Sure enough, it was the starboard rod making the racket, the one with the 12" green and black 'doorknob' lure rigged with dual 12/0 hooks, one of the lures Abuela Linda had brought Alexander on her visit in March.

The rod was nearly doubled over, the line was already at the spectra backing (meaning we had 250 yards out! 400 to go), and the fish was still making its screaming first run! Phillip got the boat stopped while Kelly went to retrieve the other lure, the little Tuna Catcher. Alexander helped furl the sails, and Nicholas got the cameras, just in case. Kelly fought the big fish with Phil at the helm, but we weren't successful this time. After a 15 minute struggle the fish showed us who was master and took off with some of our gear! We kept the rod, reel, and most of the Spectra- the fish got everything else. We could see the fish leaping several hundred yards astern of us, making splashes much bigger than any dolphin we've come across would. The billfish was massive and silver but that is about all we could tell. It's behavior says "marlin", probably blue marlin.

Our unrefrigerated produce is still doing great. The limes were starting to look a little peaked though, so we decided to juice the lot. All we can say coming out of the experience is that we're glad we don't run a bar. We now have almost a gallon of fresh lime juice in the cooler! It's too bad we don't have any gelatin aboard to make pies.

We have changed course slightly due to a shift in wind. Advice from our weather router has us sailing this direction for the next few days until we are closer to Hawaii. Assuming the winds cooperate, we're now planning to go via south point on our way to Honokohau. It should be quite spectacular to sail in the lee of the 10,000' volcano!

S/V Samadhi V - Passage from Costa Rica to Hawaii, Day 25

Date: 24 May 2009 1800 UTC (0900 Samadhi Time)
Distance sailed in last 24 hours: 191 nm
Distance to Honokohau, Hawaii: 970 nm
Latitude: 16 50.794 N
Longitude: 140 13.470 W
COG: 278M
SOG: 7.7 kts under sail
Wind: 8 kts NE
Seas: 2 ft NE swell, 1 ft wind waves
Weather: 70% Cloud Cover
Barometric Pressure: 1014.7, rising
Sea Temperature: 76 F

Smoother seas and slackening winds brought change to our sailing yesterday. Starting in the early morning, the wind waned and moved around behind Samadhi. Having the wind behind us cuts our speed significantly, especially when the wind is light. We waited for a couple of hours to see if conditions were going to change before hoisting the spinnaker.

Sailing under the spinnaker immediately brought our speed up, but not as high as we have been seeing recently. The wind continued to drop steadily throughout the day and into the afternoon. We managed to hold our average speed around 8 knots, but only barely. As the wind dropped, our lovely clear skies gave way to near complete high overcast. It cleared by the late afternoon, and we were left with lots of puffy little clouds reflecting the rays of the setting sun.

The wind was fickle throughout the night. We squeezed what we could from it when it would blow, then slowed to a crawl when it died down. Today dawned overcast with light wind, but as the sun has risen the clouds are reducing. Perhaps the wind will increase soon as well.

On Friday, Alexander and Kelly made shortbread cookies (with the Tartine recipe--Thanks Cort!). We ate a couple of them then, and while delicious, mostly they were still too warm and crumbly. Fast forward to yesterday--somehow, we managed to finish the entire rest of the batch between snack and lunch. The boys just couldn't get enough! For extra servings, they even made up cute improvised ditties praising Alexander and his shortbreads. Alexander has promised to make us another batch sometime soon, maybe this time without any assistance.

We received a couple of phone calls yesterday. It's always a pleasure to talk with folks shore. Nana, we hope you have a wonderful time back east at Juline & Greg's wedding. Please pass along our best wishes to the happy couple. We're sorry we won't be there to help celebrate the occasion.

One of the things we're really looking forward to about arriving in Hawaii is being back in the US again. We'll miss our adventures in Latin America, but being able to shop at a grocery store where we can find things like a produce section with lemons and Brussels sprouts and a familiar butcher counter with cuts of meat we recognize will be so nice! That's not even mentioning the fact that it's a nightmare to have many boat (yacht) parts fixed or replaced outside of the US, especially with shipping and customs being what they are in some countries. We're definitely going to have our hands full with projects for a little while to come!