(Last night) We are 20 miles from the Kingdom of Tonga, visible in the darkness only because a soft light glows on the horizon -- the late-night lights of a small Tongan town, although I'm not sure which.

Alpha and Beta Centauri have just slid below the horizon, and the Milky Way dominates the sky above, like a cloudy umbrellaWe lost our wind, the seas have laid down, and we're motoring slowly in calm water and warm night air toward the northern tip of the island..