Thursday, July 8, 2010

Like Dancing a Waltz

It is 1740 on July 8th, 2010 and we are located at 37-41, 126-24 with a wind of zero and speed of zero. The boat turns slowly this way and that. Like dancing.

For a couple hours the haze above got a lot thinner and the combination of sun and no wind produced a heat wave that threw people into a panic to remove the 6-8 layers of heavy clothing that they were wearing. It is still kind of warm and most people are in shorts and tee shirts.

The quantity and quality of cuisine rivals that of Berkeley's finest restaurants. For lunch we had perfectly warmed Costco chicken tacos and Amy's burritos with salsa and guacamole, with apple juice to drink. Dinner is spaghetti with Ikea meatballs in red tomato basal sauce. Loaves of Costco fresh baked multigrain bread with real butter, green and red cabbage salad with tomato's, carrots, apples, red bell peppers in Trader Joe's Tuscan Italian dressing. After this meal we expect to be treated to Joe-Joes chocolate and vanilla bean cream desert. WOW!

There is talk of circling Oahu (after crossing the finish line) until the food runs out.

Dinner. Gotta go................
Bill


We are slowly getting out of the hole. The afternoon was spend with a lot of tweaking the sails, with some benefit, but only minor one. A little satisfaction comes from having pulled ahead of Scaramouche. The are suffering from the same problem that we have: a heavy boat in light wind. Wind is picking up and we are moving, although only at about 6 kn. But it will get better with wind speeds going up to 15 - 20 kn and stay there until the last 5 days, when it drops to 10 - 15 kn. But there is also a sad story in the forecast. On Saturday, when the fast boats will start, the hole, in which we are/were stuck will be gone. That is, these boats, including Pegasus, will have almost smooth riding from start to finish. You know what this means for the King? Sigh.
Ulli

P.S. Picture that: Breakfast in bed. Is that a service or what?

P.S. P.S. Someone is sending pictures to our sat-phone email. This is a burden to us and is burning up minutes, so please don't. We would, however, very much like to receive the photos on a CD or stick or SD card or else, and I can make them available to others. Full resolution is preferred over reduced sizes.

10 comments:

  1. Clara Monica, Juliana & Maria LuciaJuly 8, 2010 at 9:07 PM

    We hope better winds will come soon and you will be in Hawaii soon!
    Here in San Francisco is still very windy and cold so we will send the wind in your direction.
    You are eating very well, actually better than we are :) We are thinking of you all!!

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  2. Hello Cirrus!
    We hope you more wind on Friday! It is very hot over here (in Düsseldorf), no wind 36C. We feel like bacon!

    Glad to hear you have enough to eat!! But maybe there is no need to circle Oahu, debending on how long you might take...maybe you have to start fishing again...like you did in some past races!!

    Go cirrus!!

    -Katja u Andi

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  3. Breakfast-in-bed is a minor demand of the Iron Butterfly! ;) Keep her fed!

    Hope the winds pick up soon for you Cirrus!
    -Kate

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  4. "What this means for the King"? How dare you! I command thou to take back those scoundrel words that would render asunder my union with dearest Bill lest I relegate thee to finishing this voyage residing in the bilge! Art thou not on board to defend my honor? Art thou not on board to sail? Shall we rename thee "cargo"? Blaspheme, I say! Now I command thee, end these pointless words of defeat and get out there and sail, man, sail!

    Under my seal on this 9th day of July
    The King

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  5. I confess. It was I who sent the pictures. My bad. I see you are getting some wind. Excellent, enjoy the ride. Save The King. BTW, Mark Cavendish won yesterday's Tour de France with a spectacular sprint to the finish line. Up til then, he was having a lousy season so this is a huge relief for him. No change in the GC positions. ~Chris

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  6. Na, ich hoffe, mein Pusten hat was gebracht und das Boot segelt wieder schneller!
    Hier ist auch kein Wind, schlappe 36 Grad...Selina liegt nur noch auf den etwas kühleren Fliesen.

    Grüße von Jörg und Claudia Rheindorf, von Schlömers, Hast, meiner Tante Klärchen, Ullis Tante Klärchen und Wolfgang und natürlich auch von meinen Eltern...das muss nun ausreichen, um den König zu verteidigen!

    Liebe Grüße
    Rositha

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  7. Please break the news to Kathy that breakfast in bed ends when she steps off of Cirrus. Best wishes to the entire crew.

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  8. After having eaten chicken fingers for lunch I'm quite jealous of the meals I'm reading about. If it wasn't so wet, and far less standing watch I think I would sign up for the adventure and food alone. LOL
    I still have faith that the King can be saved. GO GO GO GO GO!!!
    Blow winds blow.
    ~kay~

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  9. Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff....
    Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff....
    Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff...
    Pffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff...

    So, we hope this wind helps to get you going

    Sonja, Jens,Katharina & Leonie

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  10. Helen V says Hello to all the crew and a special greeting to Rick. Are you having fun yet? We want to hear about your safe arrival in Hawaii. Wish we were there to welcome you.

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