Monday 11 Jul 2011

Monday 11 Jul 2011
0600 PDT Position: 29 21 N, 134 53 W
7:40 AM
Randy, Graham, and I just finished our 04:00-07:00 AM watch.  We encountered our first bit of light rain.  We sailed wing on wing dead down wind all night in medium to light winds at a speed of 4-6 kts.  We had 1,328 NM to go at the end of our watch. 

We set the .85 oz spinnaker after our watch and it helped increase our speed to 6+ kts.  The boat is more calm with the spinnaker and I might try to take my first shower of the trip.  Last night Harry's watch encountered a freighter within two miles of us.  We're all falling into our routine of three hours on and six hours off.  We hope to hit the mid-point of the trip by tomorrow.  Although Mary still has a bad cough, nobody has got seasick and we're all doing well.  The fractured shroud toggle does not seem to be getting any worse and we think it will make it to the finish.  Tom has been inspecting our rigging regularly and doing what he can to minimize any chafe.

6:47 PM
Today was our first day with lots of sunshine!  The wind and seas have calmed down... they're not much different than our local waters.  We finally got to shed our foul weather gear and sail in shorts and T-shirts.  Most of us got to clean up and wear a fresh change of clothes.  We've been sailing with the .75 oz spinnaker for most of the day.  We're working better as a team when raising and lowering the spinnaker.  It's been great sailing at mostly 5-8.6 kts downwind on the "Krumline" (as instructed by Harry Krum... more or less the rhumb line).  The water maker and rigging are holding up well and we're using the diesel motor to charge the batteries.  We think it may take us a little longer than we originally thought to finish the race, so we're starting to conserve our food. 

Randy made a great leftover meal of spaghetti, rice, and hot sausage with Snickers bars for desert.  I'm sure we're the best fed boat in the fleet.  We're all feeling well with no signs of seasickness.