We're now about 3-4 days from Rio. Because of the light winds, the race
office has called the finish of the race. They're concerned that the
fleet wouldn't have gotten in on time. This doesn't really affect us,
as we've known for a few days that we would be 10th place. Now it's
just a matter of getting there, whether by sail or engine. We've had
good winds and good sailing the last couple of days so hopefully we
won't be too late into port.

One consequence of the many light days we've had, and the somewhat early
end to our race has been all the reading I've been able to do. Unlike
Jenny, I'm not in the habit of reading for pleasure while at home so
to have the time to sit down power through some books has been nice.
The crew share their books after reading them, so there's quite a
variety onboard. Here's what I've read so far.

Long Way Down: Mentioned this in an earlier post. I finally finished it
off. It was okay, but I think the TV program would be more enjoyable.
It's been pretty popular after I donated it to the boat as I've seen a
number of people reading it since.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog: My favorite so far. Bestseller translated
from French. A very simple plot told in the form of short essays on
many random philosophical topics. The author's description of food and
art seem extra poignant on a boat without much of either. When we get
into Rio I'm going to search for some jasmine tea because of one such
passage.

The Island of the Day Before: Another intellectual bestseller,
translated from the original Italian. This one was tough to get into,
but had a few highlights. Interestingly it discusses the same topic as
the Longitude book (which has been very popular amongst the crew).
Ended up being a real page-turner, as in, I started skipping pages just
to get to the end and be done with it.

The Audacity of Hope: I picked up this Barack Obama book in Hull before
we left as I figured the boat could use some good 'ol American
education. When I heard that he had earned the Nobel Peace prize I dug
it out of my bag. I enjoyed his writing and how personal it was, even
though I found some of the politics boring.

Eragon: A fun, easy to read fantasy novel. Hoping to read the sequels
in the future.

Marley and Me: Reading this one now. Has some enjoyable sections so
far, but has basically been rehashing experiences that most every new
puppy owner goes through. A nice break from the earlier "brainier"
books, particularly in this heat we're in now.

I've also been thumbing through a Portuguese phrasebook that someone
has. I won't have much chance to use it with our shortened stopover,
but it's still been fun and brings back memories of the very enjoyable
time that Jenny and I spent in Portugal.

And of course there are some books on sail trim, weather, knots, that
have proven useful in passing the time and upping the general knowledge
level of the crew. I'm hoping to pick up some more educational stuff
along the way to make use of future downtime on this long journey.