October 27, 2007 - New Zealand Run, Day 4

This is the magical fourth day of an offshore passage, where everything seems right with the world. Neither of us feels seasick anymore. Cooking at a slant, while bracing yourself against the movements of the boat, starts to feel perfectly natural. Just after breakfast this morning, we crossed the Date Line. We are just under 600 miles from our landfall. The wind has come forward, and we are sailing closehauled with a full jib and double reefed main in 15 knots of apparent wind. In these conditions and this sail trim, Mata'irea is so balanced that she steers herself, which gives the autopilot a break. We doing a very comfortable 6.5 knots.

It is a crisp, clear day. It is 68 degrees in the cabin, according to the cooking thermometer. The water temperature is 77.5 degrees. It feels like Fall sailing in New England. Unfortunately, our bodies have become so acclimated to the tropics that this feels cold to us. I've been wearing long pants and long sleeves for the past two days. Last night it was down right chilly. Around dawn, towards the end of my watch, I crawled into bed with Sten, who was cocooned in a quilt. We are going to freeze to death when we fly home for Thanksgiving. I hope my mom and dad toss a down comforter in the car when they pick us up at Cleveland Hopkins.