errol's favorite dish of mine has to be paella. this is one i made last night, one of my last on zephyr. my basque friend would be proud i think.

okay so i just booked a flight up to nairobi and will be meeting matt, jus and the kids on thursday morning! man i get a big smile just thinking about it. of course leaving errol and zephyr is bittersweet. i'm ecstatic to go up to kenya but am bummed to leave south africa so soon and before errol completely finishes his circumnavigation (which finishes once he reaches mossel bay, south africa).

we are in richards bay, south africa by the way. it was only 12 days from mauritius. but we did have to pull in a bit early, as we were hoping to make durban before the weather turned a little hairy. the last day of sailing was a little on the wet and wild side. for a climax a massive thunderstorm with impressive lightning welcomed us to africa. and with that, my time on zephyr comes to an end. but we have come far and seen much and i'll never forget any of it. all told i sailed 9,700 miles with errol - from fiji to south africa (across the whole damned indian ocean)! his around-the-world sail will be around 27,000 miles. that means i sailed over a third of the way around the world with him! and now i'm up to 11,000 bluewater sailing miles. all in the last six months!

some times i think, damn, how in the hell did all of this happen? six months ago i was hitching my way around new zealand with a curious itch to go to sea. no sailing experience? no worries, dude! (i don't think getting drunk on arnold's boat out on lake monroe counts). now i can say i'm a sapient and seasoned sailor. or something like that. anyway, here's to finishing what i've started and sailing the rest of the way around the planet some day!