Delayed post from Matt Scharl on Wednesday, July 25th..

Hello from the St. Lawrence Bay.

What a difference a day makes. We’ve had now 10 hours of the same conditions, NNW wind 18 to 25 knots, 10 to 17 knots of boat speed in the direction we want to go.  i can’t see the tracker, but if it shows much detail at all, you can see how many different times we’ve had to make course adjustments. Many of those adjustments or sail changes come during light winds where you’ll see a track that has no rhyme or reason other than the desire to get further down the course. With those changes come the obvious sail changes, but what you don’t see is the moving of what is called the “stack.”  This stack consists of all the sails not being used, unbolted down gear, personal gear, food bins and the required water on board 30 some one- gallon jugs.  So when the boat changes direction or the wind changes, we adjust sails and then adjust the stack, the stack goes to the front, heavy in the back, from the port side it goes to the left and so on until the boat is happy. This stack moving gets old really fast in the variable conditions. We have to really thank Emma for keeping us all in line with this, her diligences regarding this is spectacular. Conditions on board are good, some of the dampness has gone away except for the floor, where the only time my feet are happy is in my boots where its dry. We’re catching up on sleep and overall the happiness meter is on the rise.

Having boats nearby to race is great and the occasional dolphin riding our wake is awesome.

Matt