20.51 N
130.49 W
Distance traveled: 137 NM - 1600 NM left to go!
Sometime over the next 12 hours we will pass the half way point to Honolulu near 31 degrees west.
We are in strong easterly flow winds now and are coasting along, wing on wing (meaning our jib is poled out to starboard and our main prevented out to port). Although we rock on this point of sail, the movement isn't too difficult to bear. It feels a bit like Ka'sala is wagging her tail as she powers through the ocean. Right now we are making 6.5 knots and heading 270 True in 20 - 25 knots of wind. The sky is sapphire blue with puffy white clouds. The air is warm and dry.
We had a bit of a rough go last night. I guess it could have been the transition from having the wind on the quarter to the wind directly aft, but we seemed to have a lot of difficulty getting Ka'sala to sail smoothly. The seas were high, rough and confused and the wind flukey. When I came on watch I continued to twiddle with the sails when we were overcome by a series of rain squalls. The second one packed 30 knot winds that came up rather suddenly and all three dumped enough fresh water to wipe the boat clean of salt. We knew we would probably be more comfortable wing on wing, but decided to wait until morning when it made more sense to make the change. We reefed down until the wind and seas eventually moderated. By 10am this morning we were sipping our coffee in the newly cleansed cockpit, enjoying our breakfast, and agreeing that a 34 foot sailboat might be a "pleasure" craft, after all! If these conditions continue for the rest of the journey we will, indeed, be happy sailors!
Last night on the Seafarer's Net, one of the operators who lives on the Big Island of Hawaii, mentioned that the enormous volcano there is due to erupt sometime over the next month. Good thing we decided to skip Hilo and head directly for Honolulu!
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