Rain!

Legs dangling over the ocean,
Water whizzing by in quick motion,
With the sun beating down,
This tan is going brown,
Thank you factor 30 sun lotion.


Following our happy hour half way party yesterday, we were suddenly reminded
of home when it started raining - the first time we've had rain at sea!
There wasn't a huge rush to the hatch as the skipper expected, as we were
all quite glad to be cool and covered in fresh water for once. The
refreshing weather didn't last long, as today has been very hot and sunny
with the off and mother watches tanning on the aft deck. The wind that the
clouds brought has also disappeared, and we spent much of today sitting in
light winds with the on watch banished to the scuppers. We've now been
flying spinnakers solidly for 8 days, only taking them down twice daily to
check the halyards. The light winds have allowed Mark to start fishing -
although attempts have so far been unsuccessful so we had to skip fresh fish
and instead had curry for dinner. It's widely agreed that the chicken curry
is much better than the beef, and we discovered that poppadums in the oven
turn purple, strangely.

Highlights of a fairly relaxed day include a Dan Buoy floating past, the
first sign of life since we saw our last ship several days ago. We also
served up proper filter coffee, strained through a J cloth and kitchen
roll - surprisingly good. We are also currently crossing the mid atlantic
ridge - although the view hasn't changed much. Goodnight from Rona II!