Headed for Hawaii!

Aloha Westward Fans!

There is all kinds of exciting news to report from the good ship Westward today.

When we last wrote, we were sailing downwind, but still hadn't turned to point directly at Hawaii. That changed in a hurry when, as if we were being spoken to from the Sailor in the Sky, we got a huge wind shift that forced us to gybe toward Hawaii. The message couldn't have been any clearer: "Hey, dorks, time to turn NOW!" For the last day and a half we have been pointed at Honolulu. It's been great sailing and good fun aboard.

We are also happy to report that it was shower day aboard Westward and now at least half the crew are smelling a little better. Before you get to thinking we're on some kind of luxury cruise, let me reassure you that "shower" is a liberal description of what happens when the Westward crew bathes. Instead, it's more of dousing yourself with sea water on the back deck of the boat. You hang a bucket over the side, get some water, pull the bucket back up, and empty it over your head. Maybe it's not the spa at the Ritz, but it sure feels good. Notably, and this is a source of pride for us, we have not yet lost a bucket to the blue yonder.

On the topic of hygiene, you'll all be happy to know that using the head has also gotten much easier. We're down to just the normal 4 or 5 steps instead of 14.

Probably the biggest and happiest piece of news to share is that the GPS in the main cabin has started to count down time to our finish in Hawaii. The GPS time to destination only will go as high as 99 hours and 99 minutes. Sometime last night, that particular data field read 99:99 for the first time. It has now counted all the way down to 81:43, although we've seen as low as 75:35. It changes a lot right now because it calculates the remaining time based on heading and speed. As those things change, the time also changes. Whatever that says, we're happy to have a countdown.

There are all kinds of bets going on aboard. The WAM watch has bet steak dinner on the highest average speed and breakfast on highest overall speed. Two Shackle Alli is currently winning highest average at 9.5 knots and Willie and Mara are tied for highest overall at 14.7 knots. However, those are likely to change as we're now on Westward's favorite point of sail and moving fast. The two watches have also challenged each other (the stakes are ice cream, cheeseburgers, and curly fries) to highest average watch speed or more miles sailed to the finish (it's not totally clear what the final number will be, but they're based on the same things). The WAM watch is currently winning this one, although Sam, Graham, and Zack surely aren't going to stand for that. The good news is that we are all winners in these bets.

Tubs is currently serving up dinner (mac n' cheese tonight), so it's time to head on deck. Tomorrow, Two Shackle Alli has promised nachos for lunch, although there's a certain amount of skepticism on board as to whether or not she'll be able to pull that off...stay tuned!

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