Euphoria

I am trying to think how I can describe what I am feeling. It is similar to when I had the kids. I felt so proud of myself for not only enduring childbirth but embracing it and then finally after all the hard work I got to hold this beautiful perfect baby in my arms. I realize that no other moments in my life will ever equal those but this morning sure came close.

Early this morning Graham and I made some tea and watched as the sun slowly rose over the beautiful ocean. The ocean has calmed way down and now all we are left with is this really really beautiful slow rising pacific swell. The sun glistens and sparkles across the water. The sky has scattered fluffy clouds and is really blue. It reminds me a bit of the "Simpson's" sky. There are a few birds that are traveling with us and this morning on the front of our boat at the bow sat a very large Albatross.

As we were chatting I looked behind Graham and there was a large migration of whales. I was awestruck. We watch as they started to pop up all over. Just bits and pieces of them. Once they had moved close enough I realized it was time to break the silence and wake up the kids. They came running up on deck with looks on their faces similar to Christmas morning. We all had huge smiles as we watched them move by and then as we were thinking it was over, in moves a huge pod of dolphins! Somebody pinch me. I wish I could attribute my emotions to being out here for so long but you know me better than that. I am just plain ol sappy. I stood with tears coming down my face just basking in sheer happiness. This is so much better than I ever imagined. I feel like we have broken through some huge initiation and now are reaping the rewards. I want this feeling to last forever.

Artemo is going so fast. We are riding a wonderful current and since the seas are calm we are cutting through the water at an alarming rate. We are all so excited by each new thing we see or find. Alex found a squid on deck yesterday and we all closely examined it. Looks very similar to his lures. Alex even tried putting one of the flying fish from the deck on his hook but all he caught was a bird.

I can't imagine that it could get any better than this but we will see what the rest of the trip brings.

ps...We got some great pictures and I can't wait to share them with you
pss..Thanks for all the blog comments. My sister has been forwarding them to our SSB and once a day we read through the well wishes and comments together. Really means a lot to us to know you guys are watching our progress.