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4/6/2006 5:45:00 AM
1090 miles outside Z town
Close to waypoint 1009

Day 8 of 25 - Rolly trades all right

DAY 8 of 25 - These are trades alright but no following seas yet as the saying goes but rollers on and on.

Sorry but today has to be a short one . it is just too rolly for me to get all philosophical though we felt like it all day .

SAILING UPDATE

Yes these are definitely the trades but the part of the saying that talks about 'following seas' hasn't come into effect . yet . it is VERY ROLLY . all I can wonder is if this is the swells that come from all the bad weather north. The waves are short together, at least 8 - 10 feet high and just keep bouncing us all over the place. As a result, I am going to hand steer most of the night to minimize the wear and tear on the boat and the autopilot. The winds have been really good from a strength perspective, around 17 - 22 knots for most part of the day and now also the night making for a real quick ride, often peaking in the 8 knot range for a sustained period of time. If you look at our track on Google Earth (see www.lawur.com/tracker ), you might wonder, if I am drunk . I wish . but the zick zacking has a reason and that is weather routing. After we reviewed the wind and weather forecast compared with how our boat performs on different points of sails, Bruce and I decided we were better off to go on a broad reach again after running for a night. It is a longer path that way but we are promised a faster ride nevertheless . our computer performance simulations show the same thing so here we go, we tacked over again and now we are screaming along while rolling like on a roller coaster. Well, maybe I get rewarded with a new 24h record for all the work. Sorry the trades update has to wait for another day.

BOAT UPDATE

Nothing new to report beside the fact that Niki and I are starting to feel the effects of NOT having a full night sleep and never being really still for the last 8 days . we both crave a good night sleep and I especially am really looking forward to a period where I don't have to worry about something, whatever it may be . the responsibility is wearing on me a bit but it will be another 2 weeks minimum before it lets up so "suck it up Robert".

FISHING UPDATE

Nothing to report . I have some nice tidbits from internet research Katharina did for us on flying fish, they are even more amazing then we thought . 400ft flights possible . again another day when not so rolly.

FOOD PLAN OF THE DAY

Breakfast - Cereal

Lunch - Tostados with beans, cheese, sour cream, tomatoes and avocados . NICE

Dinner - Corn soup with sandwiches with some special cut meat that was very tasty

HIGH OF THE DAY

We broke the 1000 mile barrier . gotta keep looking at mini-milestones and achievements to keep myself in a better mood . we are now in an emotional transition phase from all new to totally accepting it. Nothing new really until we hit the equator for another week or so.

LOW OF THE DAY

Well Benjamin picked this one but the story goes that the kids have been amazing on this trip but they gotten a bit rowdier then usual today and we talked about how we can see that they lack some physical exercise beyond balancing the rolly seas . so I told them if they get too wild they will need to go for a swim . Niki added we put a rope around them and we have them swim around the boat once . we didn't much think about the joke and went on with our day until we heard Benjamin balling in his bed . not just crying but really whaling . he thought we were serious and he was really scared . took us a while to explain to him that we were just joking and we obviously would NEVER just tie them to a rope and throw them overboard . gotta watch my sense of humor once in a while. Well that made his low of the day . felt bad for him . he made it up later during the day by being in a great and joking mood.

That's it for now.

Happy voyaging,

Robert

TheSchmids Family Sailing on Lawur

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