October 26, 2007

Closing the Gap
It's about 22:00 hours local time, about 10 PM, with a cloudless sky and a full moon glaring across the sea. The breeze held light but steady all day, then picked up at sundown, so we're now about 30 miles from Funafuti, Tuvalu, and making over 5 knots in a flat sea, 10 knot beam reach. If it holds for another 4 hours we'll have to heave to and wait for sunrise. No reef entrances at night for us. Once again the sky is so well lit that only one star in a thousand is visible, with a background of silvery blue-gray. We've sailed far enough ahead of Atlantis since this morning that we can't even see their masthead light. The only thing moving on the sea is an occasional visit from one of the sea birds that skim the wavetops, sweeping by for a closer look at the passing boat. I suppose one reason it looks so extraordinarily beautiful is that, in terms of human habitation, it is so utterly foreign, so benignly hostile. Seen from the safety and comfort of our little self contained life support module the ocean is majestically serene tonight. Thanks to GPS the approach to Funafuti should be safe and easy even in the semi-darkness. Once more I marvel that people did this with a sextant and books of tables, to find out twice a day approximately where they were. Man, are we spoiled. And email from the middle of the ocean too! Next letter, probably from the Funafuti lagoon. Weather's great, wish you were here. Ted