March 18, 2007 - Maldives to Oman, Day 7
by George & Merima

Hi Everyone:

The fickle winds out here in the Arabian Sea have been keeping us challenged. Throughout the day yesterday they were up and down, and shifting more than 100 degrees, completely contrary to the forecast shown on the grib files. At one point with the winds light and bang on the stern, we had to drop the main altogether and motor to avoid flogging the new sail to death. For awhile, with calm seas and a nice breeze, we were able to sail with just the spinnaker, averaging better than five knots. In one 24-hour period, we managed to use virtually every sail/no-sail combination imaginable, and no shortage of engine time in the light airs. Our 24-hour run from the day before was 165 miles, affected quite a bit by a half knot to a knot of negative current.

Tim surfin' the Shadow.

Just before dinner Tim caught a small skipjack tuna, which will be on the menu for this evening. After dinner, we celebrated St. Patrick's day with an Irish coffee, some good music, and a bit of dancing on the bridge deck. As we motorsailed along, the bioluminescence created by the prop left a long lighted trail behind Moonshadow looking like the tail of a comet. Kurt, feeling a bit warm from the evening air, the physical activity and the coffee, did a strip tease for us - right down to his NZ All Blacks knickers. Good thing there were no neighbors as we were laughing and singing loudly well into the evening.

Early this morning, the breeze filled in, this time from the south, and we're now sailing a reach in 12 to 14 knots of breeze, closing in on Salalah at the rate of about 8.5 knots. Before sunrise, we were passed closely by an aircraft carrier, a reminder of the part of the world we're now in. With all its flashing colored lights, it looked like a Las Vegas casino. Just after sunrise, we received a short escort by a pod of very large dolphins in a playful mood.

As of this writing, we have just over 200 miles to go to Salalah, so we should arrive there sometime tomorrow afternoon.

Cheers, George, Merima, Kurt and Tim