After a nice sail all night, 3 good squalls, some we did under main only. An improved crew utilization strategy increased the sleep quotient for the night. We had a great morning with squalls throughout the day. Some the squalls had us changing course dramatically over about 2 min, while still having 20+ of wind, hard to imagine in ones head how that works, but it does!
Squalls in the day are not unusual at this latitude, and they are grand majestic and very dark underneath, with cold rain and nice breeze. When you can see the waves in the day, which remain pretty large and coming from about 3 directions, the driving is much easier - not nearly as many surprises. One of the clouds formed a near perfect Budda - not joking, we weren't even tired at the time!
The spinnaker halyard shackle decided to open today during a routine stirring of the cryo tanks, (tightening the furler - must have pulled the lanyard somehow - yes it was taped too), The crew recovered the kite and rehoisted on the port spin halyard. No problems. That meant later in the day, a recovery effort. Between two of the squalls we hoisted Shana up the rig on the jib halyard. Dennis did a great job driving in the 25kt wind and confused seas doing 11kts... didn't bounce her around much at all. Unfortunately, we were in a bit of a hurry, so didn't get any pictures from the top of the rig.
The Nemo taco's were excellent, a bit of spanish rice, and some nifty sauce - yummy.
Today is spagetti with red sauce (and red wine in it) :)
With our current range of 412 miles, we seem closer than ever, but still have a long way to go. (we are now a "coastal cup" away for you CA sailors.) Our predicted arrival, is corrected (or more likely previously miscalculated) to be Sunday eve - if we hurry, before sunset. Finishing in the dark is significantly more challenging (and less pretty) then the daylight. There is actually a reef about 1/2 mile past the finish line to keep you on your toes. The line itself is harder to find in the day than you might think, and extremely difficult at night. Because of the depth of water, and extreme length of rode used for the bouy - which is small and poorly lit compared to the swell height and background lights of Kaneohe Bay, locating the little bugger is hard. One more little incentive to finish quickly!
As a side note: due to HF radio wave propagation realities, it is harder to get email out in the daylight hours - has to do with change in the ionosphere when then sun is out. Expect most posts delayed and in the late eve. There are also fewer stations to connect to, HI is the best option, but 50 boats trying to do that... getting a slot can be a challenge. But all is well!
We sail on, though gorgeous scenery, amazing weather and beauty with even more to come.
-Beqweeee
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25 26'N x 151 43'W (July 28th 0357Z) (July 27 2057 PDT) (July 27 1757 HST)
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