July 13th 2008: Day 23
John
Shaken and stirred.
Not everything is as it seems. It was looking like we were going to have a 10-15kt romp up to 35?N. Well, it all started yesterday, the wind clocked around to the NNE, then intensified. By this morning we had a double reef in the main, staysail up and the genoa rolled in completely. We had 30kts on the nose, and the seas built to 15'. Encanto did quite well, moving along at a stately 4kts, going NNW, so we were making more north than west, a good thing. So yes we were being shaken and stirred. Our best guess is that a stationary front 120 miles to the north of us decided not to be, and came our way. We really have to stay east of 170?W, as to the west of 170?W, NE winds continue. To the east of 170?W, we should be getting 15kt easterlies, our friends. So, come morning, if we still have northerlies, we will do a 180 and head east, even if it means losing some northing. Sometimes all this seems to make doing a 9to5 pretty palatable!
July 14th 2008: Day 24Gene
So, the horse latitudes are upon us. The wind blows - NOT…..what little there is from the northeast. But it is blowing so pitifully little that we have decided to motor for a while and hope we are getting nearer an area where wind lives. We are heading true north. Our current position is 31 deg 50 min North Latitude and 168 deg 55 min west longitude. Our destination is somewhere along the 42 latitude line a little further east from here. That should find some winds going east.
We all are having a day off from the pounding and heavy rolling and rocking. This is nice in a way cause we are saving our bodies from further abuse, But, we are using the precious fuel that we might need elsewhere. But then you must decide sometime to use what you have.
Laundry day today. All of us did laundry. It looked like Mexico. Haha.
Had some of the Dorado for dinner tonite. What a good tasting fish. John did the cooking tonite so it was a welcome change. He put some great sauce on the fish. Yeah John!!!
John
Oh what a difference a day makes. At it's peak yesterday, we had 30kts of wind and 15' seas. Today there was less than 5kts and 3' or less seas. I was amazed at how quickly the seas dropped. Given the lack of wind, we were more than pleased.
I was able to raise Summer Passage n the SSB, and again, he confirmed what we already knew, we were in a little high pressure cell all of our own. Actually we can expect light wind all the way to 42?N, before we are able to "turn right." However, GRIB files and NOAA indicate that we should be getting 5-10kts from the east tomorrow, and then intensifying to 10-15kts in 48hrs. It looks like following 169?-170?W straight north will give us decent speed and set us up for going around a small high that is forming at about 40?N, 165?W.
We trundle on.
July 15th 2008: Day 25
Gene
We are galloping along at an average of 7 knots for the last 14 hours in moderate to light seas. Wowzzers. It is much better to suffer thru this than either of the extremes. We all pretty much were slugs this day. We made a good showing on the chart and were making good northing. This rapid progress is raising all our spirits.
The bread is dwindling to a small portion left from the last batch. Tomorrow will be bread day. Today I made some Oatmeal Choco Chip Craisin Cookies. Great watch food. Had a good beef stew tonite. This is a great test of one's ability to put together a meal from a variety of canned food. Hah. Well, tomorrow I will see how much distance we put under our keel and how much left we have to go. Later.
John
Another superb day of sailing.
Also, more passages of time. We are at the halfway mark, as defined by my estimate of how long this passage would take. We have already traveled 800 miles more that what remains. We crossed 35?N, another big line on the chart. About 650 miles remaining until we can turn right and head for the barn.
Last evening was glorious. Not a cloud in the sky. A nearly full moon lit the sky and the sea. Wave tops sparkled as we sliced our way north.