Jeff ~ Monday, October 29th, 2007

I just got off the phone with Jeff, he sends his love to everyone. He's in Sri Lanka and said that he's having a great time. He said to tell you that even though you hear that people outside of the US are anti-American, he's found it to be just the opposite. He said the people he's met have gone out of their way to make them feel welcome. Jeff's a little homesick and misses everyone however, it's still a trip of a lifetime and he's happy with his choice to take on this adventure.

Captain Scott ~ Monday, October 29th, 2007

Galle, Sri Lanka: The last 2 1/2 days getting here was for the most part anti climatic--boring. For 3 days before we had surfed with main only doing 200 mile days but with the goal in site, the wind shut down. So a lot of the last 2 days was under engine, downwind, in left over seas. Downwind in light air is the worst as the apparent wind is so light that the sails slat and the boat rolls without wind pressure to hold her. But frequent squalls woke us up. One night a heavy rain squall hit with 30 kts of steady cold wind and driving rain. I was as happy as a pig in...a squall. Pitch black--no visibility--the boat leapt ahead at 13kts--the red glow of the instruments was all I could see--really fun and I literally sang in the rain. Our dragonfly resurfaced and Kendra screamed when it landed on her. So Dave caught it and threw it overboard. The boat was doing 10--the wind 18--and a half hour later the dragon fly flew back through a hatch. So it lived till Sri Lanka. Hope we are not the cause of the Sri Lankin Dragon Fly Plague. Aden to Galle13 days 4 hours--2,282nm

Galle: I have been here before in 99. It's a Navy base and a civil war is going on with the Tamil Tigers. The fighting kills many daily but Westerners are left alone--as long as they are not in the wrong place at the wrong time--like a Navy base. So we were greeted by 2 patrol boats with mounted machine guns and told to anchor for inspection. The inspection by 2 Navy officers was to see what we had that was worth extorting. Rum. They demanded 4 bottles and got 2. Then customs came aboard and demanded 2 and got one.Then the port authority wanted some--a rapacious lot. My son in law Brad tells me that this mail gets forwarded to people who do not know me. They are puzzled by the references to rum. To set the record straight--it’s my crew that needs the rum--not me. The base is sealed at night. Anti sub and personal nets close the entrance. 4 patrol boats move around. A bunker at the entrance uses a search light and has a 50mm cannon. But it’s the anti personal depth charges that go off irregularly that makes sleep difficult. Dave and Kendra will go inland to the mountains tomorrow.
It’s a beautiful country--the spice island

Captain Scott ~ Thursday, October 25th, 2007

Thursday, 8 18n 68 08e Commanders alerted us to a low forming ahead and so we are diverting a little south to keep on its good side. The north tip of the Maldives is only 290 ahead. Last night the winds increased to 20/28kts from the NW and we are humming along. All day today the seas have built and the wind 25/32kts. Also the barometer has fallen some and squalls are moving through. Typhoons form here this time of year so we are watchful. We can always bailout to the south. We rolled up the jib, eased the main, and were soon seeing 13.5kts of speed. Max wind in the squall was 44. At exactly this exciting moment I spotted a pod of whales. We flew by them. I counted 9 spouts. Possibly each whale had time to blow twice so maybe there were only 4 1/2 whales

Captain Scott ~ Tuesday, October 23, 2007

At 1300 we reached the half way point 1132 miles traveled and 1132 to get to Sri Lanka. At about the exact same time we turned the engine off after 30hrs of powering through flat calm seas. Now 10 kts of wind on the beam propel us at 7 kts on seas with only ripples. Just lovely. In the last 30hours each person has done their laundry. Kendra only needed 75 gallons of water to wash her 12 items.

After leaving the Gulf of Aden we have not seen one other ship. The water has taken on a deep blue purple color and the surface is alive with flying fish. Zillions of them ---mostly very small. This morning we found a flying fish in the cabin that had flown through the window last night. Also found on the deck were squid. We also have an adult dragon fly on board that was seen today for the first time---and where did he come from?

Captain Scott ~ Monday, October 22nd, 2007

After waving goodbye to the Augsburg, we had a pretty sail all night. Saturday morning found us 11 miles off the coast of Socotra, a large Yemen island. The wind failed and we had an entire day under engine passing Socotra. Sunset saw us by the island and clear into the Arabian Sea. We are now so far behind schedule that I set a course for Sri Lanka, by passing the Maldives. Galle was 1616 NM ahead and we had gone 615 since leaving Aden. Saturday night became our best sail of the trip - close reaching in smooth water at 9 kts. However, with sunrise Sunday came unsettled weather. Rain squalls kicked the seas up and the wind veered so we were no longer able to hold course. Beating again in rough water. Confused seas continually broke over the deck and we were all buttoned up. Close and sticky below with lots of motion.

Then suddenly we began to take on water. We picked up all the floorboards, removed drawers, emptied closets, inspected every thru-hull, and finally found the source - my old nemesis the forepeak. J boats in their wisdom put a watertight bulkhead behind the forepeak. Then they drilled a large hole in it to pass wiring forward. So we dropped al lsail, stopped the boat, turned downwind, and opened the forepeak hatch. And there was 3 ft of water sloshing around and pouring aft through the wiring conduit. Much to our chagrin and relief, we found the forepeak bilge pumphad been turned off. So with a flip of the switch our problem was solved. By Sunday night, the wind and sea had dropped making it a pleasant night. The wind has slowly decreased and now is 8-11 kts from 60 degrees. This makes a hard on the wind but moving effortlessly along at 6 kts. If Commanders weather is correct, we will be calmed by noon with at least 24 hours of motoring forecast.

Captain Scott ~ Friday, October 19th, 2007

Warship Augsburg came along side at sunset. We are beating east ward in and out of rain squalls--the first rain we have seen since May. Now we are Just past the "Horn of Africa" which is its most eastern point of Africa. Hense Africa and Somilia are behind us. We still have to get around Socotra Island which is ahead. By tomorrow night we should be free of the Gulf of Aden and be able to set a course to the Maldives. The German warship circled us and came within 25 yds with all her crew on deck. Great photo op as we were doing 8kts to windward with rail down and old glory streaming.

Captain Scott ~ Wednesday, October 17th, 2007

Now, 36 hours out of Aden. A reasonable beat--comfortable, but still a beat. Last night had build ups over Yemen with lightning but its been crystal clear since. We are just entering the pirate high risk area and will be in it for the next 2 1/2 days. Somalis transport illegal immigrants across hereabouts and pirate anything they can catch on the way. For sailboats it’s the #1 pirate area in the world (Malacca Straits for commercial). However, we have good reason to feel safe. We have called Collation forces on the phone and are giving them daily positions. As a result we got over flown by military aircraft this morning and talked to it on VHF. There is a German Frigate on patrol in these waters and she knows we are here--and we have a direct telephone line to her. We are also far off the Somali coast and there are lots of freighters about. So it’s all bad news for those of you who were betting on the pirates!!