20 11 E, 059 54 S;   270 nautical miles, The wind died. It’s not that much fun though, in fact it’s not all resting and relaxing when there is no wind – all the time I am being pushed by dead waves. They swing Tanasza like, what’s his name...? Like a Jedi does with his lightsaber in Star Wars.    The poor creature (me) had a bath, shaved her legs. A bucked was also drowned during the process, but it was not that important;) (positive thinking works:) ) The clouds also seem to have a need for something. Cirrus clouds mean there will be wind, mostly from the direction pinpointed by their curled tail. Yet, there is total chaos above me. It’s like the clouds had a party and now they are sprawled all around the sky, no order whatsoever. I can hear fishermen on the radio, I can see none of them, though. I will have to refuel. Drag heavy canisters, dismantle my  bunk in order to get access to the fuel tank. I guess I can expect the smell again, for I am sure I will...

430 nautical miles from Reunion Island, 22-23 of October yet another sleepless night, self-steering gear issues. I am tired. Tired of waves which roam across the deck and make us tilt to the side. Tired of dampness inside of the yacht, watching and women’s intuition.

blog 20/10/08, Monday ... yet another night without sleep; the ocean gives me a hard time again. I was worrying that Tanasza will make an uncontrolled jib on some crazy wave; I was worrying that solar panels’ frame loosened up; I even worried that I have too much loose on the tiller... I listened to every noise, every clatter of the yacht... The only thing left to do in the morning was to check if I’ve gone gray:) and hope for the best... After all, its only 650 nautical miles left. I need to go more to the south from Rodriguez Island – I am on the windward now and I will get too close to the island if I stay on the same course. P.S.  Andrzej Lepiarczyk, who also sails solo around the world onboard ”Mighty Chicken”, a Figaro class yacht, is already in Durban, and I am worrying if there will be spare parts waiting for me in the port, I really need to fix the autopilot and a self-steering gear... :( I guess I am in a “worry” mode again:/

 19 41 S; 068 29 E   “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight. Red sky in the morning, sailor’s warning”. I guess this time it won’t be so, the sun sets deeply red, surrounded by heavy clouds. It will be hard again. If it shines, it makes you feel better, warmer, I’d say. And how about now? Grey sky, waves are wetting the deck, some of them even make Tanasza tilt, again and again. So much about sailing (...) Enough of this! I am going to reef the sails...

19 16 S, 070 15 E 847 nautical miles from Reunion Island, the Indian Ocean, en route from Cocos Islands. Since complaining, as I have noticed, is something I am quite good at recently, I’ve decided to write a few words about a terrible ache that I am feeling in my left foot. It’s like it was about to sprain (I do remember that kind of pain pretty well since I had sprained my right foot recently). With such “intense” rocking of the yacht, it is really difficult to stand on my left leg without the shriek of pain. Ointments do not work, massages are out of question, too. I wear this stabilizer thing, but it doesn’t help much. Hence, I watch a bit nervously if the clouds are bringing with them squalls which Tanasza will not manage with current set of sails and I will have to run to the deck and reef them. I am worried that I will slip (as I had done so many times before) and I will end up sprawled on the deck, totally wet and bruised. Apart from that I would really like...

October 14th, 17 25 S, 079 04 E, 1360  nautical miles from Reunion Island. I’ve got this tear-off calendar over my cooker. Each page has a proverb written on it. The one for today is about teachers. It’s in Polish, but let me give you something similar in English: “A gifted teacher is as rare as a gifted doctor, and makes far less money“ :) All the best to our teachers then! Do you remember how it was to give them flowers hoping that they will remember you and no one else? Those were the times… On this a special day I have made myself a tea… with a LEMON! All I did with it so far was sniffing :) for I have only one and I wanted to save it for as long as I can:) The sun is shining, imagine that, the rest is as usual. I am sailing sail, just like that. I am sailing.

17 21 S, 080 35 E, October 13th Weather is  the same all the time: “everywhere” is the best description of my everyday condition: grayness everywhere, waves everywhere, and lots of birds – how come they are this far from a land? flying fish, water, clouds, wherever I look I see them ,they surround me every day…  Common everywhereness I’d say… I’ve fixed the AIS, but I am not sure if it’s completely fixed or there are simply no other ships around. A hard nut to crack for a sailor. I’m heading for Reunion Island, if the ocean allows – this means that I have about 1,500 nautical miles ahead of me. I had ribs with my mother’s sauce, young potatoes with dill, and sliced cucumbers and sour cream for supper yesterday. I even had another portion of the cucumbers, that is… I wish I had… (having imagination does help in such situations:) ) Janek, I used the silicone tape to pin an autopilot to the tiller; Marta, I wear your trousers for it’s getting...

16 21 S, 084 06 E, A week on the Indian Ocean has passed, two more to go if I sail to Reunion Island… Am I sailing to Reunion Island? God only knows… At the moment, I am not sure if I will make it to Rodriquez Island, or maybe Port Louis on Mauritius… I will make a decision depending on durability of all the temporary fixes I have made so far... (a bit like flying a plane with no idea where you are going to land) For now, I am having a kind of “Indian” nights. An Indian night is when you get a unique opportunity to grab any item flying around, even those which have been previously carefully arranged, just by reaching out your hand. You can have anything you want – an apple? No? Maybe a torch? No? Even with delivery straight to your bunk, Madam?! Then the yacht makes a turn and everything flies in the opposite direction. How about an apple, again? Suddenly, the wind dies between squalls and the yacht just rocks on the dead waves for about half an hour. Yesterday, I...

15 52 S; 087 40 E The Indian Ocean, 480 miles away from the Cocos Islands It’s a total chaos. Tanasza is dancing on waves, all the stuff inside is having a party, and I can’t sleep because of that. I even got hit by a book. It decided to drop from the highest shelf and fell to the lowest possible location, floor – that is, my bunk. It’s painfully difficult to type, every wave forces me to grip something tightly with both hands. Do not even mention cooking; I’d love to drink tea, yet, with all my luck, I would get burned instantly. Then I would get bruised while trying to catch a med-kit. I doubt I would know why I chased it after all that :) The waves are weird, the weirdest I have ever seen, to be honest. They are coming from all sides, left, right, left again ... (!) In these moments, I’m thinking about my family and eat cold dainties, a present from my friends from Darwin...

My fourth day at sea. I have sailed over 460 nautical miles from the Cocos Islands. All the vivid memories of a beautiful beach I left behind are now safely stored in a little basket full of shells dancing next to the chart room...  The Indian Ocean does not make it easier, you need to struggle a bit. Waves are irregular, the wind pushes some of them, a storm in the south pushes other ones. I bruised myself a little, but most of the glitches are under control now. There is a lot of huge flying fish. All the ships here, if some are around, are always on collision course. Yesterday, one seaman sang beautiful  love songs on channel 16, but he wouldn’t give his position or sing something more lively. For Karolinka: The stone was thrown into the Indian Ocean as we agreed. Here are the coordinates: 15 03 S and 089 36 E. Robert Krasowski helps out with info about the weather; meanwhile, I am thinking about skipping Rodriguez and visiting Mauritius in order to avoid another glitch.