So I just wrote this whole blog entry and it all got erased! AHHHHH! O well. Not too much to report on. The 4 days we've been at sea have gone by fast and the weather the past two days has been absolutely beautiful! While I may have started out in a less than spectacular mood, it has improved significantly! There's not just enough time to spend it less than enjoying every second. I think my only complaint is that I don't feel like I'm doing enough 'work.' Days are pretty easy and usually consist of meetings, meals, gym time, naps, reading out on deck, and hanging out with the other RD's.

Something interesting we were discussing at dinner last night... As you probably know, we are travelling east and continuously losing hours, or advancing our clocks. Then, on April 15th, we will cross the International Dateline and gain back all of that time in the form of repeating one day. We will repeat April 15th..but the cool part is that when you combine that with Leap Year, we will be be experiences 367 sunrises! I don't know how many other people in the world will ever be able to experience 367 sunrises, kind of fun!

Next stop - Mauritius!

M/V Explorer Position Support:

29 February 2008 -- Latitude: 23 degrees, 38 minutes South, Longitude: 52 degrees, 04 minutes East ,Distance Made Good: 1948 Nautical miles, (Since Cape Town), Distance Made Good: 509 Nautical miles, (Since noon) Distance to go to the next Port: 368 Nautical miles, (Port Louis, Mauritius), Average Speed: 22.3 Knots, Distance to the nearest land: 230 NM from Madagascar, Sea Depth: 3630 Meters, Sea Water Temperature: 27º Celsius (80.6º F), Air Temperature: 27º Celsius (80.6º F), Wind: Northeast, 11 Knots Sunset Today: 18:54, Sunrise Tomorrow: 06:08

28 February 2008 -- Latitude: 27 degrees, 41 minutes South, Longitude: 43 degrees, 49 minutes East, Distance Made Good: 1439 Nautical miles, (Since Cape Town), Distance Made Good: 486 Nautical miles, (Since noon), Distance to go to the next Port: 876 Nautical miles, (Port Louis, Mauritius), Average Speed: 22.4 Knots, Distance to the nearest land: 149 NM from Cape Sainte Marie (Madagascar), Sea Depth: 4296 Meters, Sea Water Temperature: 26º Celsius (78.8º F) Air Temperature: 27º Celsius (80.6º F), Wind: Northeast, 12 Knots, Sunset Today: 18:30 Sunrise Tomorrow: 06:33 Tonight ship's clocks will be advanced 1 hour

27 February 2008 -- Latitude: 31 degrees, 01 minutes South, Longitude: 035 degrees, 21 minutes East, Distance Made Good: 953 Nautical miles (Since Cape Town), Distance Made Good: 422 Nautical miles, (Since noon), Distance to go to the next Port: 1363 Nautical miles, (Port Louis, Mauritius), Average Speed: 19.6 Knots, Distance to the nearest land: 216 NM from Richard's Bay (South Africa), Sea Depth: 132 Meters, Sea Water Temperature: 25º Celsius (77º F), Air Temperature: 25º Celsius (77º F), Wind: Southeast, 10 Knots Sunset Today: 19:07, Sunrise Tomorrow: 06:04