Location 40° 03S, 104° 27W
Thursday 11.01.2007

The Schooner Maggie B was at 40° 03S, 104° 27W at noon on November 1st. We were making 9.1 knots with 20 knots of wind on our port beam. The seas have settled down a bit and the skies are clearing. We are catching up to the High — the barometer is up to 1027 Mb — so we may not have this marvelous sailing much longer. In the Roaring 40’s, this is as good as it gets. But for the chill in the air, all is perfect.

We have covered 410 NM in the last two days. We have come 3529 from Rangiroa and have 1401 NM to go to Puerto Montt. We are about 800 NM SSE of Easter Island.

We got the fore back up at 0900 this morning. The tear along the leech line is not structural in any way. We are still keeping one eef in the main.

It looks as if we are south of the main high, but that another one will form behind us, about on the same latitude, towards the weekend. The two highs will eventually join. We may be able to stay in front of the new one, or we may have to head a bit south of the Great Circle track to keep a good westerly into Puerto Montt. We should be able to figure it out in the next day or so. Once past the highs, we should have a good Southerly to blow us in the last bit.

I’ve previously mentioned how international the Maggie B is: Japanese radar, French navigation software, English blocks, Danish riding lights, American Watermaker, New Zealand anchor, etc. I’ve also been noticing how international our food is: Thai rice, Guatemalan molasses, New Zealand beef, Argentinean chicken, French cheeses, Australian anchovies, American mayonnaise, Danish bacon, Canadian maple syrup, Brazilian sardines, Dutch salt, Mexican hot sauce, Swiss beef stock, South African chutney, Laotian mango slices, Chinese sesame oil, Japanese teriyaki sauce, Scotch whiskey, Barbados rum and French Polynesian beer!

All is well.