i'm in darwin now, after another long passage (1370 miles, 12 days) from cairns. it was nice to be on the inside of the great barrier reef and enjoy the relative luxury of smooth sailing through calm waters. we have to get ready for the indian ocean crossing now and will probably be here for a week or so as we stock up and fix the boat. zephyr's fridge is busted which ain't so cool. pun intended! we also have some engine and battery issues. it's an expensive lifestyle living on a boat, that's for sure. good thing i'm not paying. thanks for that, errol.

we also need to find crew while we're here as our last crew member jim, who we picked up in cairns, decided that sailing is most certainly not for him. he got seasick soon after we left cairns. "is it always like this!!?" he lamented, referring to the swell. "umm, no, it's usually way way more rough dude." oh well.

so i think i'm going to walk around cairns with a sign - "ever dream of sailing across the indian ocean? well here's your chance!!" it should make for a fun filled afternoon anyway. i'm sure it would generate a lot of interest around all of the hostels in darwin. we could sail on as a crew of two, but well, the indian ocean is big and one more crew for watches equals more rest time and i'm a big fan of rest time...