Quiet Night
Day 137/15
Noon Position: 41 39S 171 12W
Course/Speed: E6
Wind: SW15
Bar: 1023, steady
Sea: SW4
Sky: Clear
Cabin Temperature: 71
Water Temperature: 61
Sail: Twins poled out and full
Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good: 152
Miles this leg: 1,887
Avg. Miles this leg: 126
Miles since departure: 19,142
Overnight only one squall required I unwrap myself from my bag, rise, and roll up a bit of jib. I came on deck in shirt sleeves and bare feet, this for the first time in memory.
For a few moments the cloud, unseen except by its effect, blanked out the starry sky. Then gone, and the Milky Way, that vast arch bridging the night, returned. How easy to call it “The Milky Way” and to wonder at its beauty. How difficult to comprehend that one’s gaze is outward through the disk of a galaxy and off into space. My tiny boat, a mere speck, even in terrestrial terms, sliding across a minute puddle on a small blue dot in an ocean of stars. I had to grab for the backstay to steady myself; the thought is just too grand.
The day brought sun, full sun, with nary a cloud of substance. And warmth. The cabin was 70 degrees well before noon.
But the strong winds are dissipating quickly. The eager, bounding sea has subsided. I raised the twin headsails and silently we glide north. In the afternoon I read from my storm book and imagined how I would handle differently those gales that already seem from another time. Soon we will quietly take our leave of the south.
For now. 
Oooh! It’s starting to feel like the Pacific!!! Home Sweet Home! You might not know that our precious Kaua’i has endured some terrible flooding that has washed away farms and homes. And now Pele is consuming homes at the opposite end of the chain!