Messages from the deep blue sea! From Irena and Leona

Writing this Day 9, 11:30 am and doing so because we have had a few challenges with the computer air mail program resulting in it being difficult to post messages. We think we have this all sorted out right now, thanks to the great problem solving ability of Irena and Cress.

The Spinnaker is flying! Yesterday was the first day after 4.5 attempts. The problem, was not the sail, it was in the deployment. Very difficult to describe, but imagine a 60 foot sock around a large lightweight sail, a bucket on the top, and a huge sail bag on the bottom. Anyway, the rope mechanism to bring the spinnaker sock up and down was all twisted and had to be re-configured. Cress and Paul have been doing a fantastic job of running the boat and all the sails etc. They have been managing
the strategy associated with our course in relation to the weather reports.

For Leona and I cooking has been a tremendous pleasure for both of us, and we are enjoying being creative - and the guys are enjoying the results. Fun. We basically bought all the meat and had it packaged as stewing portions, but I think we only had "stew" once - a beef stew we had on the second or third night! So, you can imagine the diversity - from saurkraut and pork to chicken curry to a full turkey dinner with mashed potatoes, gravy and stuffing (that was in honor of Leona's birthday a couple
of days ago). The guys still talk about the beef stew - so I guess we will have to do that one again. Might have had something to do with that being the first dinner after eating very little while we managed our sea sickness.

We are enjoying our watches most of the time and the happy hours are excellent. Every evening we all convene in the cockpit at about 5 pm. and share a cocktail or glass of wine together. Last night we had a "half way" party and we dressed up, sang songs, and ate and drank to our hearts content. The wind and waves cooperated nicely for that! Leona and I had made up a list of songs on one of our night watches a couple of days before, so we had no shortage of tunes to sing. We went through the list,
top to bottom, and added a few as they came to mind, and at the very least, got one full verse and chorus sung between all of us. We even managed a few "round" songs, which were the most fun. Al came dressed in a pirate costume, complete with Guatemala belt a wooden gun (from his grandpa) and a pirate patch :) - only Al could pack like that!

The weather is warm and is staying cloudy, which is actually good, otherwise, it would be way too hot. So we are thankful for that. Between cooking, our watches and sleeping, we have barely had any time to read. We are just loving it all. The company, the sailing and the all around experience is just wonderful. Jordan and Paul are also having a great time, although Jordan has had a persistent cough for the duration. Cress's dad - Don - has stepped in and taken over a few watches for Jordan. Don is
having a wonderful time as well - "how could I be such a lucky parent" is what he said last night.

Lunch time soon. Time to prepare a bean salad!
Signing off with warm greetings to all.
Irena and Leona