Daily Log for the Minnow

Wednesday, November 23, 2005
10:38 PM UTC

It's my birthday! Last night about midnight I was out on the back of the boat playing Moonlight Sonata on the piano. About the end
of the first movement and beginning of the second, the moon started up over the horizon. That was pretty cool. Maybe even 68
degrees.

Early this morning when I got up (about 10:00) there was some racket, movement, activity, and general confusion on the boat. We were
finally moving! The spinnaker was up and there was a little wind! It's gotten better throughout the day. Now we're doing 7-8 knots
in about 12 knots (true) of wind with the big spinnaker up. The wind is from about the 8:00 o'clock position.

Serge caught a fish today. We never did figure out what kind it is, but we (Serge) cleaned it. Do they have poison fish in the
ocean?

This afternoon I was up messing with some ropes and other sailing stuff. I came down into the living room and there was a cake with
50 (or more) candles, all but one lit (the slackers), and a bunch of balloons. Party time! Being 50 is really good. Now when I
forget stuff I can say I'm just too old to remember, instead of dealing with the harrassment I've had to put up with since I was
about 12.

We're behind in the boat race, after having a couple of 50-mile days. I think we're going faster than most of the other boats at the
moment, so maybe we'll catch up.

There's a giant low-pressure system a few days in front of us. Well, it's not really giant, but it is significant. The 24 and 48
hour forcast today said there's a chance it could become a tropical or subtropical cyclone. According to our boat book (Chapman),
that means hurricane. That is hard to drive a boat through.

But it probably will weaken. We are thinking about going over the top (north) of the low and catch some tailwinds into St. Lucia. Or
we may go south and have some headwinds instead. Or the weather may change to something completely different before we get there.

We're north of most of the other boats, but there are several boats in the racing division up here with us. We're hoping they know
what they're doing.

Since I started writing this the wind has come up to 15 knots (true). We may have to pull down the spinnaker before long, because
it's a pretty flimsy sail.

Yesterday I cut into a piece of bread that Mike cooked in the breadmaker. There was a big chunk of metal in it. That guy can flat
cook!

Bob