Elise: saw tropical birds

these birds seem to be following me. nice to have a presence.

not sure if this message will get to the blog but trying.

things are going well.

first few days really really rough. haven't sailed in that much wind in a long time - and particular for so long. killed the doomsday device on day 2 (probably couldn't take power surges from drive)
then things got better and dryer
settling into a routing.
real light air for a few days. depressing, particularly for someone like me who hates light air. I have read Skip's account so many times that I remember it almost by heart and trying everything he said. it is amazingly accurate.
haven't been able to get weather info but trying today.
spoke with family, nathan and brian on sat phone. amazingly speaking French had a wonderful effect on me.
got only one position report via sms. huge kick in the butt.
ap has trouble driving with kite up. huge wind shifts, light air and wrapping. so hand steering as much as possible and using twin sails for ap to drive as more forgiving for this kind of stuff.
haven't opened up half way packet yet, another 50 miles to go. will probably party tonight.
dealing with a couple of infected wounds on fingers but should be no problem. neosporine and trying to keep stupid tape/gauze to stick is main challenge. might sail with twin sails today mostly to reduce line work and risk of this stuff flying off again, or getting wet. don't want to have this become worse.
my strategy thus far was flying kite during day, twin sails at night (my attention span would die off after a day of trimming and driving and I noticed that boat speed actually not that badly impacted at all with twin sails and main and ap can keep up more easily)
solar power issues: all panels operational and deliverying tension. 40 w panel connection got corroded and kaput. might just take panel forward and connect straight to battery. fewer connections mean fewer failure points. i think that connector for big 144w also kaput as everything else seems to be working. no meaningful output from 20w in clouds.
mister fusion (efoy) keeping up wonderfully and allowing me to sleep ok. have to hand steer to be competitive anyway. lots of shifts and light air hugely confusing for sails.

if this does not make it to blog. sending also to nathan who can relay to shtp folks
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