Latest Position as of 8:00pm PDT/3:00pm Majuro time/0300UTC: 9.24N, 179.29W



Still having great winds. I ate a whole can of Spam yesterday and am feeling pretty fat! The Spam was a joke gift from my mom but it actually tasted really good fried up with some mayo on toast! My grandmother in Pasadena suggested I cook up a bag of Trader Joe's rice with a can of tuna and some terriyaki sauce. Wow. Very good. So I am trying to spend more time thinking about eating and exercising so hopefully I'll get some more energy. I don't ever feel seasick. I just don't feel hungry. Hot food does taste good so I'm glad I stopped in Hawaii to get more fuel.

There has been some talk of my plan B. When you are out here in the middle of the ocean you do give that a lot of thought. Ipods really aren't designed to get wet but my 3 GPS units are. I have only used one of them so far. One is in my ditch bag. I think I have described this before. It is a bag built out of buoyant material that is filled with flares, GPS, personal locator beacon (a sponsored item from Microwave Monolithics) this is similar to the EPIRB on the boat but made to carry personally. Other things in the ditch bag are water, powerbars, fishing gear, small medical kit (sponsored by Adventure Medical Kits), a can opener, knife, mirror, whistle, strobe light etc. The ditch bag is the first thing you grab if you have to jump into your life raft. The other GPS is stored in the kitchen. You may be wondering why I store my spare GPS in the kitchen. It is a known fact (theory) that if you place your handheld electronics in your microwave during a lightning strike, they will not be harmed. All other electronics would be fried.
I have been reading a lot. I'm working on about 5 books at once. Depends on my mood. We have also been researching my next leg after Majuro. Looks like Port Moresby may not be a good choice for a single hander. It has a pretty fierce reputation for crime and violence. Other parts of PNG are supposed to be great but there are only 2 places for a boater to check in (immigration) in PNG and one of them is too far off course. The web site Route page needs to be updated because I am no longer stopping at Tarawa or the Solomon Islands. This may mean a straight run to Darwin, Australia. I received an email from John Knight who wrote an excellent guide to cruising off Northern Australia. He has offered to help route me through this area. With David Morris (who gets his courses approved by Jimmy Cornell of World Cruising Routes) and John Knight and 2 family friends who have cruised extensively in this area, we should be able to choose a good, safe route.
Moana is battling stronger winds. They would like lighter winds so they can pull out their genoa (larger forward sail). I would like stronger winds. I've got 15 knots from the awkward angle like on the way to Hawaii. I'm missing surfing down those swells! We are still talking twice a day to each other and also on the net in Majuro. Really looking forward to Majuro. I learned from my new best friend, Rob Jordan, that I can get a legal drivers license in Majuro for $20 without a test. All you have to do is tell them you are a good driver! I am so there!
Cheers,
Zac

Note from Mom:

This is an article about Majuro that was forwarded to us today:

http://www.pacificmagazine.net/news/2008/07/29/worlds-youngest-circumnavigator-headed-for-majuro

I heard back from Karen in Majuro. "Mailing should be no problem. You had the right address. But if you want to slightly reword it, here’s what I would say:
Zac Sunderland
Yacht Intrepid
General Delivery
Majuro
Marshall Islands (MH) 96960

Getting busy around here as Zac prepares to arrive in Majuro. Laurence will fly out Thursday with a few guys from Itik Productions. Hopefully no one is injured by Zac and his new driver's license! He proves that he is still 16!

Thanks for the support!
Marianne