Second Nite at Sea.....

We are having a great day...finally we got several hours of wind. Not always in the best direction, but enough for us to do some sailing and shut down the engine....peace finally !! We got about 25 miles under the keel sailing, so we are pretty confident that we have enough diesel fuel to motor the remaining distance if necessary.

We are entering the infamous "Mona Passage". This is the dreaded pass between the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. It is notorious for gusty trade winds, thunderstorms and nasty currents. The trades blow from the East/southeast; exactly the direction of travel from the D. R. to P. R. The trades kick up big seas which makes for a miserable if not impossible crossing. BUT, the crew waited for the perfect weather window...and we got it. No seas, no squalls, no problems....this almost never happens in the Mona. Dancing Dolphin and I were just chatting on the radio, talking about our good fortune.

We are less than 15 hours from P.R. We have changed our plans and have set a course to go to Mayaguez instead of Boqueron. Mayaguez is about 10 miles shorter in distance, and we can clear customs there. After clearing customs, we will hop down to Boqueron. We really don't want to push the fuel situation, and 10 extra miles could make a difference. So, we want to play it smart and not push on to Boqueron.

T made a great dinner of eggplant parm....delicious !! We sure do eat well while making a passage. Think we may have to install a gym ! We just started our evening watch schedule, with T having the first off watch tonite. I am on watch until around 10 pm.

All is turning and burning.....AOK aboard. Warm, beautiful, tropical evening...going into the cockpit for my watch to enjoy it.

Later.....THE CREW

POSITION: At 19:20 18 51.31 N 068 12.26 W 134 mag @ 5.5 SOG