We woke up today to a beautiful morning, warm, sunny, however unfortunately, no wind at all. The engines continued as we traveled SW on our way to the new weather system. No one could have predicted the amount of no wind days we would encounter, and everyone, kiters and sailing team alike, are doing everything to make the most of this time until we can get back to the wind we came here for.

While in Cabo Verde, we picked up some tackle to be able to catch some fresh fish while en route. For obvious safety reasons we agreed only to fish when there was not a kiter in the water, but since the forecast looked so light for the next two days, we put a line out first thing. One of the 14m bars had been broken during one of the landing procedures the week before, so we attached the bait to the end of one of the good lines, and tied it off to a cleat to drag behind us. What an experience it will be if we get to catch and muscle on a large fish during this crossing. Hopefully sooner than later, so we will have plenty of meat for the trip. Ike and Erik and I had a good time talking about the process. “we could attach the halliard to its tail and hoist it up the mast” said Erik. Ike enthusiastically said, “but if its a shark, we are going to make soup out of its fins, and cut its teeth out to dry!” Just the thought of it is keeping the excitement level up.

As the day progressed, everyone took some personal time to recharge. Arne looked through pictures from past trips to the Caribbean, just about everyone did some reading, and writing, listened to some music, and I even had a little yoga session. Since we cant be out on the water for now, it only makes sense to give a little attention to take care of our minds and bodies while in the middle of this beautiful ocean. We also zoomed out on the radar screen so that everyone could see exactly where we were in the Atlantic in reference to where we are going. “ Its motivating to actually be able to see the other side on the map, and not just endless water” Dennis said. I couldn’t agree more, however Camilla chimed in “ Yeah but from that far out, if you look at it again in five hours, you’re going to think our propellers fell off again” as everyone got a good laugh. When the sun began to set,

Dennis started cooking up what turned out to be an amazing recipe of his for Chill Con Carne. Esther and I assisted him in the kitchen while conversations led to the Documentary Searching for Sugarman, which Dennis had on his computer. I was instantly locked into it as it was such an inspirational story about a musician I had never heard of from my hometown of Detroit. Amazing how small the world is in so many ways. Dinner tonight was again amazing. The way the cooks have spoiled us this trip with so many nutritious varieties has constantly exceeded everyone’s expectations.

As dinner ended, Camilla shouted out “ Look at the pretty colors!”. We were going through a large patch of bioluminescence, and flashes of green were splashing against the hull, and glowing throughout the water. To close out the evening, everyone had some cookies and tea, and a slight silliness came over us all as we began to sing and act out old 60, and 70’s tunes to the idea of filming a boy band video the next day if no wind was an issue again. Lets pray for wind.

By Eric Pequeno