Day 8

Day 8 4/6/06 3:52 am
Coordinates............ 09 32.286N, 121 04.656W
Heading................ approx. 235
Boat speed..............7 knots
24 hr total nm .........158 nautical miles (NM)
miles total since MX....approx. 1200 nm
Wind direct. & speed....N/NE 15 - 20 knots
Swell direct. & ht .....N 6 - 8 ft.
Cloud cover.............5%
Barometer...............996

Happy to say it was a very quiet and uneventful day. Completed a nice day of school, had home made pizza for dinner and sailed on. ahhhhhh. We are working on setting our course a bit further south. We have had some good luck today sailing with what they call a wing on wing sail configuration. It means putting the sail out on either direction much like wings to maximize the ability to catch the wind when it is directly behind you. Despite the swell coming from the side and continuing to make this a rolly affair we are making good time and getting a lot of miles in. 1,000 miles down, 2,000 more to go. whew!
Today in school Matthew was practicing looking up words in the dictionary. To make it more fun we had him hunt in the fish book to see if he could find this flying fish we have been telling you about. Here is what he found. We had a few to choose from and the best we can tell, these are Sharpchin flyingfish (pez velador) fodiator acutus, up to 9.5" long, not as common as the California Flyingfish. It says the pectoral fins, which act as wings are not as big as the California variety there do not fly as well. I'd like to see the California one then because these guys are amazing. They go for amazing distances and truly have the ability to rise and dive, bank and curve though the air as well as any small sparrow or bat we've ever seen. Well done Matthew.

until next time,
love lisa and the boys