Here are the last two updates from the Captain:

Day 3
Things are okay out here. We had some excitement last night, 40 knot gusts but only for a short time. It has been about 28 knots ever since. Just flying the staysail. You should be very happy you are not here. It has been pretty rough and is supposed to stay that way until Monday….Yuck!

Day 4
Everything still good here. We had a pretty calm night last night…only 16kts of wind from behind and not a bad sea. We all got some good sleep! It has been about the same today. We are doing about 140nm (nautical mile) days…about 6kt average which is very good. We could not fix the generator so we are running the engine to charge. No big deal about fuel. We have not had to do any motoring yet. I don’t expect we will have to do much for the rest of the trip.

Hawaii (U.S. soil update):

It is weird to see cars driving on what now seems like the “wrong” side of the road. It really freaks me out when mom makes a turn onto another road. I keep expecting a head-on collision. Using U.S. coin seems strange to me too. I can’t help looking at prices and trying to do a non-existent exchange rate conversion. The grocery store is way fun due to recognizing all the products. It’s strange though how much packaging of so many familiar items has changed: Pepsi, Sun Chips, Mountain Dew and a lot of others. Oh, and those orange goldfish crackers… they come in flavors now like cinnamon. It’s also a little weird recognizing so many chain stores like Macy’s, Wal-Mart, Borders, Home Depot. Everywhere I turn, is a recognized chain: Firestone, Blockbuster, all the food chains, etc… The new Fresco menu at Taco Bell isn’t bad. It’s almost like dieting, it’s so healthy!

Cooking… again, I like not having to salt water rinse in order to conserve fresh water. The counter space and the unlimited kitchen accessories are nice too, not to mention the DISHWASHER. Wow! I’ve been cooking a lot because it is so much more enjoyable in a house. The daily unlimited, hot shower never sucks. It’s also nice to turn on as many lights as I like and not worry if I walk out of a room and leave it on 5 minutes without being in that room. I’m not a P.G.& E. glutton but the freedom is nice. We haven’t been plugged into shore power for more than 2 years! Oh… let me not forget to appreciate fast internet and not watching my “pre-paid phone card minutes” when I make a call. I guess we’ve been gone a long time. I feel like a cave woman in some ways. Maybe soon I’ll discover “fire.”

Stay tuned for more updates.

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