Today is Saturday, day five of our Pacific cup, if you count the day we started as “Day Zero”. This seems to be the thing to do, so please mentally re-number the previous postings.
Regardless, I’m still pretty sure today is Saturday. It is easy to lose track when one day leads into another and we are standing watch at all hours.
One way to remember is by significant events. For us, Friday was spinnaker day. We launched our kite mid-day yesterday and immediately saw a boost in speed, as well as in excitement. The winds are around 20 kts (15-25), and we are able to hold a course towards Hawaii (or a little south). Steering is a challenge in this inherently unstable configuration, requiring that we use both finesse and power. Fortunately, Steve, Michael, and Rich are well-experienced in spinnaker sailing, and Alan, John, and I are really appreciating the training.
Another significant event happened today: John brought out his “Tiki Drummer”, a little plastic guy who bangs on skull-drums to a tuneful musical accompaniment. Steve fabricated a tether for our diminutive cheerleader, and he now lives outside, always ready to cheer us on.
It is now 12:32 PM, we are at lat 30deg 25 min, lon 134deg 47min, sailing at 9.3 kts on a magnetic course of 240deg, and have only 1346 miles to go!
-Paul
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