We're still tooling along quite nicely with full jib and reef #1 set, which we haven't shaken out since departing Nuku Hiva. Our trip average speed is 6.9 knots and today we're still moving fast enough to suit us, so unless the wind softens up a bit more we'll likely leave the reef in. That reef setting doesn't really slow us down until the steady wind gets in the low teens, and it also means that we can tolerate a squall with winds in the mid to high 20's without having to set reef #2 or risk main sail damage. When the apparent wind does start getting near our personal limits in a squall we point downwind and reduce the apparent wind until the squall passes, then resume course. Works a charm on our catamaran, and usually the backside of a squall has light and variable winds for a while before the trades settle back in.
We crossed the equator about 2120 Hilo time last night. Isabel was asleep and it would have been silly to awaken her, so I did my little kabuki dance and recited incantations and donated a little rum to Poseidon. Funny that Neptune's supposed to be the dude for all that, but I reckon we looked after Neptune when we crossed North to South in 2019 and became Shellbacks. I've forgotten most of my Greek mythology (somebody help me out here) but I do recall Poseidon being a sea dude too. Just hope Ernest Borgnign (sp?) isn't involved. If you saw that movie you might recall it sucked, but if I recall it did have Karen Carpenter in a role as a musician. At least that's what I seem to remember. . .
So here's how we're doing as of right now, about 1000 Hilo time:
1 deg 24' NORTH! 139 deg 08' West
COG 000T SOG 6.9 kts (average for today, although at the moment we're down to about 6.3 kts)
Wind SE @ 15, Seas SE @ 1m, 10 seconds swell period
Skies blue blue blue with some thin high overcast out towards the horizon in places, but no puffy clouds so far.
Distance to the Hilo, Hawaii farmer's market: 1495 miles sailing plus 2 miles walking
For the passage so far, we've done the following:
90 hrs 33 min
625.5 nm
avg sog 6.9
max sog 12.4
Our continuing strategy is to sail due North as the SE winds and seas allow, then around 5 deg North we expect the winds to turn to the NE and we'll turn to the NW and Hilo, however we'll do our best to make Northing aggressively to get through the ITCZ as quickly as possible. Weather in the ITCZ can be squally and may greatly increase the risk of lightning strike, so we don't want to linger. Lightning is a big risk factor for us, and could do severe damage to the boat electronics and even the standing rigging. Plus it's scary to be bobbing around in the ocean, the only metal thingy sticking up anywhere on the horizon, and seeing lightning bolts zapping the water around us. Makes us feel like the only target in a target "un-rich" environment.
I owe our pals in the Facebook Seawind 1370 Owner’s Club group a summary of how our solar and batteries are performing on this South to North passage. Time to dig up some numbers.
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