Getting warmer

Lat 24deg31.942N long 127deg16.210W May 10 05.56

It's getting warmer and my shadow is constantly getting shorter day by day, so I guess we are on the right course. Instead of studying your shadow you can study celestial bodies trying to figure out were you are. Last night 19.59.43 local time the moon was 35 degrees and 24 seconds above the horizon. This gives one line of possible positions. If you have another intersecting line (from another celestial reading) then you can figure out were you are. You would need a nautical almanac with tables of the celestial bodies position of course. Much easier then to look at the latitude and longitude on the GPS navigator, but then again nothing compares to looking at a moonlit sky filled with twinkling stars. And you've got lots of sky-watching time, sailing silently thru the night. Rocking and tilting, listening to the sails discreet flutter, the water splashing against the boat and an occasional moaning from rig or boat.
The only thing needing attention this hour is Cap Horn, the wind vane. And looking out for other boats of course. It's almost two days since the last sighting. Now it's morning and we hope for some change in winds today. We need to go straight south at this point, and not so much west.
We have done roughly one quarter of our trip to the Marquesas at an average speed of six knots. That's the speed I usually have when I run. Not very fast you might imagine, but given time it will take you anywhere. For comparison, starting in my hometown Ume� we could have been in Milan Italy by now. Provided one could sail straight to Milan, that is.
It�s time to wake Fredrik. Bye for now. H�kan

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