Sunday 17 Jul 2011

Sunday 17 Jul 2011
0600 PDT Position: 23 24 N, 150 11 W

Randy, Graham, and I just finished our 4:00-7:00 AM watch. We got hit by another rain squall with winds gusting over 30 kts. The wing on wing configuration handled the conditions well. It takes a Zen like focus to keep the boat in the optimal groove to stay on course and minimize the rolling. It usually takes the helmsman 10 minutes or so to settle into the groove. We finished our watch with a direct course to Diamond Head traveling at 7.5-8.5 kts with winds of 15-20 kts and 435 nm to go. There's a bright moon and the skies behind us seem relatively clear. As for the boat systems, the water maker is working well and we're charging the batteries for a couple of hours each day. We're able to transmit these e-mails via our single side band radio by connecting with stations in Friday Harbor, WA, San Luis Obisbo, CA, Watsonville, CA, or Hawaii. Connecting to a station is kind of a trial and error process helped a bit by the propagation tables. We haven't been able to fix the short in the navigation lights so we're using flashlights taped to the bow and stern along with the masthead light. We don't see any other boats but expect to start seeing some as we converge on Diamond Head. We'll inspect the ripped .85 oz spinnaker today to see if it can be repaired for use. We may be able to continue sailing wing on wing or use the light .5 oz spinnaker if the winds lighten up.

4:00 pm Randy, Graham, and I just finished our 1:00-4:00 PM shift. It's pretty much the same as before in that we're on a port tack wing on wing with the #2 jib poled out to windward. We're on a heading very close to Diamond Head traveling at 6.5-8.5 kts with 373 miles to go. The wind has been blowing strong at 15-30 kts all day. The seas have increased and are still very confused since they’re coming from two different directions. We all seem to be adapting well to the rocky ride. We hit a strong rain squall earlier this morning during Curt's watch. We furled the jib and reefed the main in preparation of the squall. The warm rain was refreshing for the crew working on the sail change. We went back to full sail after the squall passed. Randy is taking a look at the ripped .85 oz spinnaker to see if we can repair it. We're all trying to estimate when we'll arrive at Diamond Head.