Location: 33° 49 S, 107° 29 E
Thursday 12:00, 02.15.2007

The Schooner Maggie B was at 33° 49 S, 107° 29 E at noon today. We are headed due East magnetic, right for Fremantle at 9.6 knots, with the speed varying from 7.5 to 12.5 knots with gusts and surfing swells. We have made good 800 NM in the last four days and have 430 NM to go to Fremantle. The wind has been from the SW at 20-25, but we are expecting frontal passage soon when it will switch to NW 20-25. We are continuing with both main and fore with one reef. Freo for Saturday night! Hooray!

Supplies are getting low at least for fresh food, being 2 1/2 weeks out of Mauritius. But we continue to be inventive for our communal noon meal. Today, with the help of the "All Around the World Cookbook" by Sheila Lukins, I made Irish Soda Bread, which came out pretty well. We then had Butternut Squash soup and a horizontal Pissaladiere. We have lots of onions for the onion tart, and olives, but sardines instead of anchovies, and the Soda Bread instead of puff pastry. It was delicious!

Waves at sea are endlessly interesting. The ocean here is a steel grey when it is cloudy, bright sapphire blue when sunny. But not necessarily a nice blue. Very hard. White caps are totally different than watching a wave break onshore. On shore the froth leads the wave and is the main action and attraction. At sea a breaking wave can be spectacular -- you can see why they are called "white horses" -- but immediately as it breaks, the wave leaves it behind. It is as if the wave "has places to go, things to do" and isn't interested at all in something frothy and frivolous. Occasionally a wave will peak up near you and, if you are lucky, you see the light through it and it is a bright, light, shiny blue that reminds you of beaches in the tropics. Then it breaks over you and beach thoughts are forgotten as the "bright shiny blue" water finds every tiny opening in your foul weather gear and fills your sea boots.

Quote of the Day: 'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free.
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be.
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed,
To turn, turn will be our delight
Till by turning, turning we come round right.
(Shaker tune)

All is well.