06-Apr-2006 Position

11'23.0N/112'7.8W
06-Apr-2006 Noon

• 92nm made good last 24 hours
• 856 miles from Z-town
• 2326 miles to Hiva Oa, Marquesas Islands

Big day today! One week at sea, hit the trade winds (hopefully!), got the Saye's Rig going, caught a fish, and had homemade pizza for dinner!

One week at sea and we are both doing great. I'm actually surprised how fast the time seems to go. But I guess when all you do is eat, sleep, read, and take watch, this can make the day go by fast. I think Tom and I are both on our third book.

We both just finished, "A Million Little Piece". You know the book that Oprah got so upset about. It's a total load. I don't know how anyone could think it is true story. My first book was "Memoirs of a Geisha". Another thumbs down from me. Too slow. I've switched to a good trashy novel mom brought me.

Tom read "Between A Rock and a Hard Place". That's the book about the kid that went hiking, got trapped, and cut off his own arm. Tom says it's great. So it is next on my reading list.

This morning Tom figured we would hit the trade winds at about 115°W, which is about 180 miles from here, or sometime tomorrow. However, we think we may have caught them this afternoon. We've got about 10-15 mph winds coming from the northwest, pushing Sandpiper at about 6 to 6.5 knots.

To top that off, we hooked up our Saye's Rig today (thanks Captain Chris). The Saye's Rig is our wind vane. It is another form of autopilot, but with out belts or motor, which means no noise. The Saye's hangs off the back of the boat and keeps us on course because it's connected to the rudder. The helm still moves back and forth, so it looks like a ghost is steering the boat.

This afternoon, while having a snack, the fishing pole let loose. FISH ON! FISH ON! Tom and I both jumped to our feet, looked behind the boat, and saw our fish going crazy. But wait! What's that behind our fish? A SHARK! A shark was chasing our fish! Once we pulled the fish up to the boat, more than half of him was gone, eatin' by the shark. It was ok with us because we think it was another crummy Bonito. That shark was hungry. He probably chomp off about 8 inches of the poor sucker.

Well, since there is no fish for dinner, we're going to try our hand at pizza. The boat is not rocking around too much. So cooking underway hasn't been that bad, yet. It's just so hot. And to turn the oven on, yuck! We still have a ways before we hit the equator too. Hot! Hot! Hot!

Love to all,
Amy and Tom