Date/time: Apr 12, 2006 12:00 local Position at noon: 04054' N & 133037' E Noon to noon: 180.8 nm Avg. speed: 7.5 kts Miles to go 155 nm Course bearing: 0190 T Sea state & wx: NE 9', wind 10 to 30 kts Crew Ben, Brad, Kevin & Jim Farrell Goal: Palau in 1 day http://www.visit-palau.com Remarks: We were getting steady north easterlies before we crossed the equator but wind is stronger now and we put the vanes out at noon to steady up. Raining very much and more each day. We are fortunate to have Jim Farrell from the Edmonton Journal visiting us. He has had extensive interesting worldwide experience and his stories are always entertaining. He wrote article that was in the 'Journal' Monday April 10. http://www.tinyurl.com/lclmg He joined us April 5 and will leave for Afghanistan when we arrive in Palau. George asks for some info on Jim: he is a senior writer/photographer with the Edmonton Journal, based in Edmonton Alberta. As soon as he gets off Idlewild in Palau will immediately make his way to Kabul, then on to Kandahar Afghanistan to cover the activities of 2,200 Canadian soldiers on behalf of the Edmonton Journal and the Journal's associated papers across Canada, all owned by Canwest. This will be his fourth trip to Afghanistan since January 2002 on behalf of Canwest and its associated national TV network, Global TV. Ironically, his coverage of the "war on terrorism" began Sept. 11, 2001, when he and a photographer drove virtually non-stop from Edmonton to New York City to cover the destruction of the World Trade Center. He also worked out of Baghdad for three weeks in 2003, having arrived in that city five days after the American Army. To date, Jim has published six stories on Idlewild in the Edmonton Journal plus two stories in Pacific Yachting magazine out of Vancouver. He has a tentative list of four yachting magazines that he is targeting for stories on Idlewild - one in Canada, two in the U.S. and one in Britain. Ben, Brad, Kevin & Jim -- Ben Gray Idlewild Custom Buehler 55 powered by a 55-hp Kubota Home port: Dunvegan, Alberta http://www.idlewildexpedition.ca/ http://dieselducks.com/Idelwild.html http://www.trawlersandtrawlering.com/ Where to follow Idlewild if you have Google Earth installed: http://tinyurl.com/ksnhg For the JPEG version: http://tinyurl.com/ovdt7