5/16/12

Noon Position: 49 57' S, 172 18' W, SOG 6, COG 055, Day's Run 120nm,
Week's Run 772nm. Because of crossing the international date line, my
weeks now end on Wednesday instead of Thursday. This morning I passed a
north-bound sperm whale, who clearly is wiser than I, he was heading due
north for warmer weather while I still slant away to the east. After
being becalmed again last night, today is once again a glorious day - it
probably says something about me and the southern ocean that instead of
joyously welcoming the nice weather, I keep nervously looking to
windward, waiting for something dark and ominous to roll across the
horizon. Two nice, sunny, downwind days in a row! Something must be
wrong with the weather systems down here. I took advantage of the
dryness yesterday afternoon to tackle, for the 47th time, the
prodigiously leaking stbd aft lower chainplate, which has been doing
it's level best to turn the shelf above the bunk into something
resembling a jurassic swamp. As I was putting everything back together
I noticed that the shroud had a few broken strands just at the lower
terminal! After a second night time shroud repair mission, happily this
time without having to go aloft, Odyssey now has two jury rigged
shrouds, this one repaired with the bottom half of the first broken
shroud, and I am beginning to dislike swaged wire terminals.