Location: 0° 22S, 36° 52W
Saturday, 03.29.2008

At Noon on March 29th we were at 0° 22S, 36° 52W We have come 1025 NM from Salvador and have 1810 NM to go to Antigua. We are just a few miles short of the Equator, which we expect to cross at about sunset today.

It is typical ITCZ weather: rainy and no wind. Thomas maximized his 9 AM to Noon watch by taking a shower on deck in moderate rain. Can’t get cleaner!. Our GRIB files and Commanders, our weather router, say that we should get into steady NE trades tomorrow. We are ready for it!

The Shellbacks on board, Frank and Hannah, are feverishly preparing for the visit of King Neptune, Iemanja, and their courts. The pollywogs are hoping to be Passed without too many complications. Little do they know….

Long Blue Water passages ar great for reading and the Maggie B’s library is rich and eclectic. I have been recently through: Jorge Amado’s “Gabriela, Clove and Cinnamon;” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows;” Carl Hiaasen’s “Stormy Weather;” and now started on Fagles’s translation of Virgil’s “Aeneid.” Thomas has just started “1421;” Curtis is reading Helprin’s short story collection, “The Pacific;” and Hannah is reading “Thirteen Moons” by Charles Frazier.

All is well.