Thinking back on yesterday I realized that two special things happened. I went over the Netherlands’ longitude line and December 20th is the day when the sun on its course through the skies stands straight above the ‘Tropic of Capricorn’ which is where I am. This date marks the longest day in the southern hemisphere – not that the sun was shining for me yesterday or even for the last several days. But it doesn’t really matter since it is steadily getting warmer all the time. The wind is blowing from the south at 10 to 15 knots and ‘Gup’ is moving smoothly forward so I can rest at night between uneventful watches. The clouds are hiding the stars but Guppy is making her own lights by drawing beautiful lines of marine luminescence in her backwash. Surprisingly I don’t feel things are at a stand still even though during my previous crossings I always had something to occupy me: ‘Gup’ being pushed on her side by a squall, repair work, or just trying to sleep when everything inside the cabin was wet and salty. But now, nothing. After all that went on in the past year this is a moment for me to take it all in and realize the chance I have to be at sea being in peace. And it is just wonderful. So Guppy is smoothly going on which means I can bake bread, read books and work on improving my culinary skills, which I am succeeding surprisingly well lately…

Laura