At sea

We have spent the longest day at sea.  We are at 42 degrees north crossing the Gulf of Maine, from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia.  Our latitude means we have lots of daylight at this time of year, the sun rises before 0600 and sets after 2100, giving us 15 hours of sunlight per day.  The best part are the sunrises and sunsets, they seem to go on forever.  There is another hour of dawn and dusk, this makes the nights very short.  At the moment it is 0415 and I can detect a lightning in the eastern sky. The waning moon is only a sliver and it rose an hour and a half ago.  The moonlight shimmers on the very calm sea as we motor through the night.  

I have set 3 knots as the lower limit of sailing speed that I am willing to tolerate on this voyage, any less than that and I quickly become depressed at the estimated time of arrival that the chart plotter gives off.  A very economical 1800 RPM's will give us twice the speed, and when we achieve 6 knots the ETA becomes much more acceptable.  We have about 225nm to go which means we should arrive in Halifax on June 24. That will give us plenty of time to sail the last 200 nm to Sydney to meet my goal of being with Jennifer and her family on Canada Day.  I have put all the country flags that we have visited on a line and will hoist it up our back stay once we have anchored in Halifax.  A ship returning to her own country from an extended voyage can do this as a form of celebration. It should be a fabulous sight.