Monday
Another beautiful day. Winds forward of abeam keeping us cool. Many dolphins in the distance, including one jumping clear of the water, but they apparently have no interest in us. One ship on the horizon. Light winds during the day had me convinced that we could not make our destination by tomorrow night. But after dark the wind has picked up, and we’re doing 9 knots to windward in reasonable comfort. If this wind would hold (which seems unlikely based on experience to date) we could still make it. Not that we’re in a hurry to arrive, but we don’t look forward to “killing time” for an entire night waiting for daylight so we can enter the harbor.
Last night we had a pink-footed booby (a bird) roosting on our sprit stay all night, and he’s back again tonight. Tim keeps inviting him into the pilot house and offering him things to eat, but he seems content just to perch and get a free ride. In addition I can see in the moonlight that there are three more birds that are “leading the way” — flying just ahead of our jib. Sometimes they break away and fly off, but before long they are back. It’s eerie seeing them fly by in the moonlight.
Our latitude is 0 degrees, 17 minutes north. That is, we’re just 17 nautical miles north of the equator. We’ll cross it during the night after my watch, which is exciting but a little disappointing because I’d like to be awake at the time. I just think it would be cool to watch the navigation system show 0.00 latitude and switch from north to south…
ZekeTheSailor 
Zeke,
This is Mrs. Blais, the Science teacher from team Red Rock! We are beginning our lessons on animal adaptations for survival, and it fits perfectly with your journey nearing the Galapagos Islands! Darwin actually traveled to the Galapagos and discovered many species that were particular to the islands. He hypothesized that they most likely originated in Central and South America, but have adapted and evolved on the islands. We will be discussing and writing a scientific explanation about Darwin’s finches beak sizes. Darwin found that they were trying to survive, resulting in the differences in beak size, corresponding to the food they were able to attain. It would be great for the students to research how sea levels may also effect species on the Galapagos islands! We look forward to sharing our research with you. It would be great to see some actual photos of Darwin’s finches on the Galapagos!
Mrs. Blais
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