Today started as as April 13 but we crossed the dateline back to yesterday. The code 2 goes up but we only get 40 minutes out of it . Really it should have been launched a lot earlier and we would have got a few hours out of it. The wind has got up again so it is a brute of a drop with A team foredeck crew of Afshin, Cameron and Rick on the coach roof. For a change we have a
cruisy night with the moon out and a clear sky.
By morning we have nice white sail reaching conditions.
The other watch are reaching at over 20 knots several times but the sea and wind are a bit more subdued by our turn. We still average over 10 knots .
There is little bit of Cafe Sanya ,I play yesterday of course.
I hear the yacht surfing as i go off to sleep.
People are and happy relaxed .
We are finally heading fast eastwards toward our destination.
Next morning we turned more southward to get a better angle on an expected wind shift.The days are the same, cold and overcast, winds of 20, 25, 30 knots seas to 4 metres ,not as cold on the hands with more southerly breeze. Just the
routine of boat life ongoing .It’s lentil curry tonight ,a crew favorite.
I reproduce my Easter email to my kids in which I tried to give them an idea of what things are like.
Hi kids,life out here at sea is just the one day after the other ,sail,eat,sleep repeat.So really no idea of the days or what might be happening anywhere.So hope you’re having a happy Easter ,just happened to hear it is good Friday today ,at least here. A few days ago we crossed the international date line so our clocks went back a full day.My watch is on Honolulu time but the north Pacific up here at 44 to 45 degrees latitude is rather chilly.A few days ago at our morning watch change it snowed! Is relatively easy to keep the body warm with multiple layers under the drysuit but keeping hands warm nearly impossible. Few days ago became a bit easier when the wind turned more southerly. We’ve just gybed on a favorable northerly shift and wind blowing is rather cold again. Oddly it’s rare to see the sun out here there is pretty much continual cloud which is a stark contrst to the Southern Ocean where there were plenty of clear skies between the cloud days. Conditions have been relatively benign with the max wave around 6 metres and not 17metres that’s sometimes reported out here. The yacht is charging along at 11knots avg(the speed of a cruisy bike ride)so well over 200 miles a day .We have 600 miles to the end of the ‘ice limit’ which is a line at 45 degrees latitude we have to stay south of to avoid icebergs then we can turn further north towards the finish a further 1000 miles a way .Then we will motor up the waterways to Seattle .So maybe a bit more than a week to be in port.
<span;>Hope you’re all well and having a happy Easter ,guess Lachie will up for his first Easter egg hunt.
love Dad from somewhere between Russia Japan and America.
Enjoying your blog, Rick! Thanks for describing what it’s like onboard. Look forward to more posts!
How will you be getting to Panama? Hitching a ride on a competitor? Or traveling a bit?
Thanks Sheila, am still returning +ve RAT tests so can’t get on Qingdao . Planning a trip to Grand Canyon and monument valley then rejoin in Panama.