Jeff's Log ~ Tuesday, April 1st, 2008

Our visitor from the Indonesian navy told us the weather would be good today. We woke to heavy wind and rain, and our departure was made a little later than planned. The squall blew through in less than an hour, and left behind some good sailing breeze. I took the first watch and had a very nice sail for the first hour and a half. Then the wind dropped off and we began motor sailing with the lumpy seas left over from the storm. The autopilot was swinging about 35 degrees in the confused sea, so I kept driving until my watch ended. Since we have been in the Malaccan Straights, we have seen a lot of logs and even whole trees in the water around us, so constant vigilance is necessary.

I am now relaxing between watches and it is very hot on deck. We are close to the equator and the sun will bake a person very quickly. I am trying to keep my exposure down to minimize the heat factor.