In the Arabian Sea

We are in the middle of the Arabian Sea. We have been sailing and motor sailing for several days. The winds have not been cooperating as much as we would like, coming a little too much on the nose. Makes for interesting sleeping conditions. We had very light winds one day and we all stopped to clean the props and the bottoms of the boats. It was great to get in the water except for all the tiny jellyfish stings that Kikki and I received. On the 13th we had a little excitement, the running backstay block broke and startled us. It was easily fixed though.
The vessel I am sailing on is called Endelig which is Norwegian for 'finally'. The couple who own the boat, Henry & Kikki, are from England, but Kikki is Norwegian. They have just become grandparents for the first time so when we get to land we will try to find an internet cafe so they can see pictures of their new grandson, George. The vessel is a 44' cutter rigged sloop, built in Holland by Contest. It has a center cockpit and 2 suites. I am in the v berth, though I have been sleeping in the salon when conditions make it difficult to sleep so far forward.
Sailing in a group is interesting. You need to frequently adjust sails and heading to maintain position in the group. I will definitely expand my sailing skills with this trip. We take shifts of 3 hours on 6 hours off. This gives you the time to get a reasonable amount of sleep and your shift times vary from day to day.

I hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day (and birthday Christi!).

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