davidd's A DOLL A DAY 2024

[Alliecat]

Wow, 18-20kt, hahaha.... I have a video clip from a... um... "windy" day *cough* in which you can hear someone say "We're doing NINE knots with just that one little sail" 
I'm impressed by your weather.  I thought, "I sure wouldn't want to do the north Atlantic in December."  We had enough "weather" in July!  The 20-foot seas were not fun, and looking back, it's rather a miracle that we didn't lose anyone.  Guess it depends on the timing; you had it pretty good.  Glad you had some sea legs!
I'm curious; did you ex-pect it to not be dark at night?  That would depend on whether you had moon/star light, and if you had haze, well -- that's too bad that you didn't get to see the stars much.
I'm also surprised that you were surprised, about not seeing any other ships.  We didn't, till we were almost across.  Then it was kind of funny with people saying "Look, everyone just ran to that side of the boat to look at us." 
I don't remember about jet trails.  We had a fair bit of fog.  No birds in the middle of the ocean unless they were real long-range ones like albatrosses or something.  And maybe not in December.  Seeing birds is a sign you're approaching land anyway, if I recall.
It sounds like you had some cool port visits too.  Awesome that you got to do that    Hang onto the memories of fun things; they help you get through the dark times.

...wait, what?  Is that the federal government?  Weird, I follow several groups that are interested in news related to "that sort of thing" and haven't heard a peep about that.  "What the hell" is my typical reaction to much of the world these days.  Especially with our gov't teetering on the verge of collapse and our [censored]-potato-in-chief running south of the border to suck up and all the provincial premiers in a panic because trade war.

Back in the day, I used to feel excited returning home after traveling. After all, I was returning home to a place that was a once-in-a-lifetime dream destination for many people. How did I screw that up or why did I give that up? As I begin my tenth year in Utah I grow increasingly despondent about what I left behind.

This is what terrifies me about moving -- making a mistake and having regrets. 
Wanna buy a house????