19.52.99 N
123.31.30 W
Distance Travelled: 132 NM - only 2006 NM left to go! Almost 1/3 complete, as we already have over 980 NM of water under our keel.
Wind: continues N, NNE 15 - 20 with occasional gusts, so we sail on the beam to just below it. It's not as steady, though. In the early morning hours we dubbed it a "daft" wind as it skittered about. Daffy plays havoc with the stability of the monitor steering - which gaily accelerates up on the gusts and then despondently plunks us down into the rolly swells. Of course, the latter is not a good time to be ladling or pouring anything! This afternoon these ups and downs are so regular it makes us think the earth is breathing. (I know this is hopelessly off topic, but if you ever saw the film "Baraka" and the sequence of New York city taxis stopping and starting at traffic lights in sped-up photography, you would know what I mean. The earth breathes! It lives! We just have to pay attention!)
Seas: same as yesterday - however, as you would expect, when the wind dies down, so do the seas. The water is an amazing light, sapphire blue - a colour I have never seen anywhere else but in the middle of the Pacific - almost worth going weeks without seeing land to see.
Observations: 50% overcast, about 25C air and 22C water temperature. Earlier today we had two small sessions of misty rain. We could use a bit more than that to wash the salt off the boat!
No wildlife spotted - not even on the decks. Squid and flying fish have decided to stick to their own element. Good!
An enormous container ship passed us midday 5 miles to starboard. We could see it clearly as it parallelled our track to Hawaii at 19 knots. I think they will get there before us. Doug said: "Wouldn't it be cool if they used their crane to bring us aboard and drop us off 100 miles short of Honolulu? It would be the fastest small sailboat passage yet!" Ha!
Provisions: The curry turned out very well last night and so did the naan bread. This morning I made a big meaty tomato/veggie sauce which I will use for pasta and other things. Spoilage is under control. Each day, when all the watches are finished, we have a big cup of dark roast coffee (the coffee grinder is our only electrical appliance), and eat a big bowl of yoghurt, granola and fresh fruit. It truly is our staple. The rest of the time we are snacking on nuts, oranges and dried fruit. We allow ourselves one alcoholic drink a day (almost exclusively a beer, though one night I was wild and crazy and had a glass of red wine) - we cleverly have called it the "cocktail" hour - and it goes along with a usual daily rise in the wind which we call the "cocktail" wind. How unique! Some days we drink no alcohol at all and don't miss it a bit.
Yesterday we crossed our second time zone at 120 W - 2 more to go to Hawaii at 135 and 150 degrees W.
Doug cleaned and greased the helm bearing and eliminated the squeaking - all will be well there. We are so pleased with Ka'sala's performance.
If you ever get a chance to see "The Lady in the Van" starring Maggie Smith, it is well worth it. That woman can act! Of course, the title attracted me after our Roadtrek adventures, but the film had nothing to do with travelling. I would be curious to know what my British friends think of it. (Look out, Maunds, test coming up!)
Looks like our good sailing weather will continue through the week, but we aren't in the Trades yet. Stay tuned for more updates from the Pea Green boat. (We still haven't figured out which one of us is the owl and which the pussycat!) (And, no, the cocktail hour has not arrived yet today!)
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