Good evening from VALIS, and a rather tired crew. Last night, due to strong winds (where did *they* come from?!?) we dropped the spinnaker and put up the white sails (Main and Genoa). We made fairly good time, but it was a challenge keeping them filled because of high swells and a poor wind direction.
This morning conditions were good for spinnaker again, so down came the genoa, and up went the big rainbow-color sail. We spent the afternoon on the edge of control, learning to sail under these conditions (actually, Andrew and Daniel were driving, with Paul and Ville standing by to work the lines). We finally decided that with squalls coming up, and the previous sail repair starting to come undone, it was time to drop the spinnaker.
So, now we have moved the whisker poke to the mast, stowed the spinnaker on deck, and are running with a poled-out genoa. This isn’t quite as fast as the spinnaker, but it is easier to keep under control. We plan to keep this configuration until morning, at least unless the conditions truly call for a change.
*** Fire Drill ***
We just had to partially furl the mainsail in order to re-insert a batten that was sliding out of the pocket. This involves pointing more-or-less into the wind, while we struggle with the batten, then re-hoisting the main and resuming our course. All went well, but this hardly increases our speed.
Our current position is Latitude 25deg 10min N, Longitude 148deg 41min W. Now that we have the high-wind sail in place, of course the wind has dropped, so we are sailing slowly towards Hawaii at 6 knots. We are in moderate but confused seas.
Dinner last night was cheese tortollini with olive maranara sauce. Breakfast was whatever you could scrounge. Lunch was more of the same. Last night Daniel and Andrew had the 1:00AM to 5:00AM watch, while Ville and Paul had the 9:00PM to 1:00AM, and the 5:00AM to 9:00AM watches.
Must sleep. Too tired to continue. Getting delerious. Are we there yet?
Aloha,
Valis and her groggy crew.
p.s. – attached google-earth file of previous 24-or-so hours.
p.p.s. — speed now up ro 7 knots.

valis-jul14.kmz