.dolphins.

One morning before our devotions on the bow my friend Ali shot several pictures of our view. These are what we saw the other day. The dolphins were keeping up with us, creeping out from under the bow's splashes... jumping, swimming, and jumping again. Often times they were fairly synchronized too :) 

Just a quick update on our sail...

The last two days, plus today, have been ROUGH!! We have been rocking from side to side due to big swells. Experienced seamen would say this is nothing, but since we've had a smooth sail thus far, the change has been quite drastic. Sleep is interrupted and inconsistent. We wake up to the rocking and the random "clash" from inside our cupboards to somewhere around the ship. The first night the rocking started I don't think many of us got much sleep. It was the talk of the morning. To avoid a repeat, Tim came up with a brilliant idea last night. We slept sideways (horizontally in bed). Despite our feet hanging over the edge of the bed, we both slept so much better. Rocking side to side in our sleep proved much better than rocking up and down! 

We have to be extra careful walking around just to stay upright :) It is quite hilarious to see everybody sway-walking and crooked. You get the hang of it after awhile, though. Stairs are tricky. You have to time them just right so that the swell carries you up them, rather than trying to climb against resistance. Sitting requires extra vigilance too. You have to hook your feet just right around the chair legs to keep from rolling across the room. And holding onto your cup while you eat is a definite must! Otherwise the cup will slide across the table. Sailing also brings a certain fatigue that no amount of sleep can cure. 

Oh, the joys of sailing!  

Despite the discomforts of rocking, we really couldn't ask for a better sail. It could have been rough from the start. We were blessed with smooth waters 3/4 of the sail. Not to mention that everything has worked properly and we've had no mechanical troubles (at least none they've told us about :). Thanks to all our amazing engineers! And except for the occasional wave of nausea, neither Tim or I have gotten sick or had to rely on medication.

God has been our shield.

(We should arrive tomorrow. For many of us, it couldn't come fast enough :) )