Splash Mountain

I feel like I'm living on Splash Mountain. Imagine cooking, taking care of kids, using the bathroom all under the disclaimer, "This ride will result in wet people, wet clothes and should not be ridden by anyone with a heart condition." Living up to it's reputation, the trip to NZ is proving to be every bit as difficult and rough as anything we've been through before. We've got a consistent 20-25 knots on the beam and regular squalls with rain and gusts to 35. Everyone is sleeping in the salon, trying to find some comfort and just moving around is tough. I am managing to cook, although I'd rather just serve up crackers and cheese. NZ quarantine officers will visit the boat upon arrival and throw away all meat, dairy and produce, so I'm determined to eat it. Try frying chicken on roller coster. We're getting waves over the boat from every direction, and the cockpit is wet and salty. But hey, only 90 hour to go!! I just keep reminding myself that my next voyage will be on a 747.

We did have a bit of excitement yesterday, when the NZ airforce buzzed us in a DC10. We hd herd them on the VHF, nd ure enough they found us and flew over low enough to red the name of the back of the boat. They just asked some question bout our route and passenger and flew off. Carter wanted to know if they were nice or mean soldiers and if they had cannons on board.

"If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all." so that's all I can think of.

_kell