We tried everything

16deg39.873N 128deg11.388W 02:00L May 15
Still not much wind, and the wind we have is either light N or NE, which makes it a slow downhill slide. Today we tried several different sail configurations, to see what works best in these conditions. Up with the new Gennaker, it looks nice and it does pull us gently, but the drawback is that we need to hand steer the boat because of the light winds. Change to the Drifter and pole it out, looks cool sailing wing in wing with the mainsail and it is stable, but it actually doesn't contribute that much more speed. Back to just winged out mainsail, which is a good compromise with these light fluky winds. It stays put, the wind vane steers it easily and it produce steady speed without all the flapping of collapsed headsails. Despite the light winds, the mood on Maiken is good. It is only so much you can do, so you might as well enjoy the nice clear sunny weather and the deep blue color of the ocean. Tonight's sunset was the best so far, and we have fallen in to the routine of eating our dinner while admiring it. The communication using the SSB and Sailmail works great, and we get both weather faxes and gribfiles everyday. We had our first real saltwater shower session the other day and I must say it does look a bit funny trying to hold on while soaping up and filling the water bucket over the side. After a final rinse with fresh water, we are back in the world of the cleanliness. I am amazed of the amount of small seabirds this far from land, they fly very close and very fast to the water, swerving side to side avoiding the wave crests, like Luke Skywalker avoiding asteroids.

Fredrik,

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