It is 2200 hours, and we’re en route between the British Virgin Islands and Panama. Wind is on the quarter, 13 to 15 knots, and BEOWULF is slipping along at a comfortable pace of 11 to 12 knots.

In the pilot house we’re experiencing something new. Our navigation computer also has a DVD drive, and our first movie on watch, Moonstruck, has just finished. It was great fun, and what surprised us the most was how clear the movie image appeared from across the pilot house. The two of us were eight feet away from the computer screen (15.7″) and the image was bright and sharp.

We started out with the computer’s speakers, which were a little weak, given the ambient wind and water noise. Then, as an experiment we tried the cassette adaptor which we use in the car to connect the CD music player to the car music system. Plugged this into the headphone jack on the computer and voila, the movie soundtrack issued forth from BEOWULF’s music system.

Of course, we have the radar going, and are checking the horizon every 15 minutes as usual.

On the music front, we’ve converted our CD library to MP3 format. We then picked up a portable MP3 player (which is why we have the cassette adaptor onboard) and play the MP3 CD-Roms through our built in car stereo. The notebook filled with 100+ CDs has been reduced to seven CD-Roms.

Between tossing off the TV, getting rid of the video player and associated tapes, and converting the music system, we must have saved 75 pounds. We’re faster, have more storage space, and it is way more fun.