May 13th, day 2 of our adventure.

Greetings family & friends, from the deep blue sea:

As most of you know, this is a first-time ocean crossing for John & me
(Darla). So far, so good. It is SO wild & beautiful out here! Now I know
what Jim & Marilyn’s friends meant by Intention being a ‘lively boat’.
It’s like riding a wild horse 24/7. I think I have bruises on every part
of my body. You learn quickly (albeit, not quickly ENOUGH) to brace
yourself, as just when you think you have the ‘wave rhythm’ down, a
rogue wave slams the boat & you go flying into something (or someone). I
hafta tell you once again, Marilyn, that you SAVED the day in getting us
outta Dodge! Thank-you, THANK-YOU for all of your love, support, help &
GOOD energy! You are truly a GEM.

“Beloved team”: We are on our journey and YOU are part of it, just as we
are part of your journey. Thanks for getting us here. Love, John C.

Hello to you all:
As Darla mentioned above we are still getting acclimated to the motion
and confines of the boat. We had a crew meeting yesterday after just
passing Monterey and reached a consensus that everyone was in great
shape, except for being slightly bruised. So we stopped following the
coast and started on a heading of about 200 degrees toward the Marquesa
Islands only about 3000 miles ahead.
The wind gods were active yesterday blowing mostly in the 15 to 25 knot
range and gusting to 30. Using the jib only allowed INTENTION to surf
down following seas averaging 5.5 to 6.5 knots with spurts of speed to
over 7 knots. We are rushing south to warmer water and a warmer climate.
A fun exciting ride and the crew did great. The phosphorescence is like
stars coming of the bow trailing back a sparkling magic carpet a third
of the length of the boat.
I’ll tell you later about the stars on night watches,the sunrise on
morning watches, the constant changing clouds and the sea in its many
moods.
Love to all