So here we are, the afternoon of Wednesday July 13th, slowly inching our way towards Diamond Head in light and variable winds that go from 7 to 15 knots and osculate from N to NE within a few minutes. Boat speed falls to 5kts then a puff accelerates us to 8 or 9 kts, bringing hope to the crew as the kite is trimmed to the new wind. Then just as suddenly as the new wind appeared it is gone and we fall back to 5 kts. The weather ahead does not look encouraging until mid-day Friday. The wind pressure looks good from that point on. We sure hope so, as the real enjoyment of this race is captured in Transpac Commodore Bill Lee's motto "FAST IS FUN". Our current ETA is now Tuesday noon-ish HST. So we should have some nice daylight sailing down Molokai Channel for helicopter photos.
In the last 24 hours there have been a number of small squalls come thru that bring and take wind, and produce light rain. The sea state is as near flat as I have ever seen the Pacific in this my 6th crossing.
This morning's roll call showed Allure recapturing 3rd and tied for the best performance in terms of miles made good to Hawaii in our class. This was the payoff for the southing we did on Day 4. We over took Flaca by 10 miles but still owe 2 hours of corrected time (Allure must finish 4 hours and 32 minutes ahead of Flaca to beat her on corrected time - roughly 45 miles). We cut into Horizon's growing lead, but Horizon moved south, covering us, thereby minimizing our gain on her (the downside of trackers when trying to sneak around the race course). So small victory here, but much hard sailing ahead as it is clear to us that Horizon is a very fast and well sailed yacht, that will require some doing to get around. BTW, the tracker somehow gave a false report that made it seem, after correction, that Allure suddenly decided to go north after fighting hard to get south. I believe the tracker position prior to the radical North position was the erroneous report.
The MacGyver fixit list has been reduced to one item: the external Iridium antenna. We have no solvents or abrasives to clean what appears to be salt corrosion on the final connection. My fault for not taping. Thank goodness, the small antenna stuck out the hatch works the old fashion way.
Crew spirit is high as we start to plan our now one day delayed half way party. Our calendar of Sailor Jerry's Pin-Up Girls (provocatively dressed and very "Inked") has given our Captain Morgan the opportunity to tell us of his uncanny personal knowledge of each of these ladies and the night he has spent with each one. The stories are great, even if the facts might be a little amiss.
Aloha,
Navigator Al
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Nice going you guys! Truly exceptional. You've reeled in many miles and now are second closest to Hawaii. It looks like your wind gradient favors you for another 24 hours. Should be closing on even Horizon by tomorrow. Assuming you keep her moving all night, of course.
ReplyDeleteWish I were there.
Hello everyone! Captain Morgan's boy here.. I've been following the blog and tracking you, and love reading this updates (wondered the same thing about the radical north move). I'm writing you all from Venezuela now and am WOWing my office with your successes. Good luck the rest of the way and Fast truly is Fun!
ReplyDeleteMatt