Ysterday was another day for marine mammals as we continue to sail towards home. On Monday we saw our “sunrise” dolphins, and later that day the whales swam by to see what was going on. Yesterday, a few hours before sunset we were visited by a pod of ten or so dolphins. These playful creatures swam alongside VALIS for perhaps fifteen minutes, jumping and surfing in our bow-wave. They often swam alongside so close we could have touched them. Our entire crew was entranced by these graceful beings.
Last night we made good speed, but running downwind before confused seas on our quarter made for a very “rolly” ride. This made sleep nearly impossible, but we tried anyway. This morning we changed course slightly, modified our sail configuration, and the seas cooperated by becoming more regular (bigger, but well-behaved). We have been able to make up for a bit of that lost sleep, but we are all still pretty lethargic.
Today, now 5:25PM PDT, we are at latitude 35 deg, 01 minutes north, longitude 152 deg, 03 min west. We are sailing at almost 8 kts, on a course of 060 degrees magnatic, in 20-25 kt winds. This points us towards Bodega Bay (near where I live), but our current plan has us sailing as far north as Mendocino, about 40 degrees latitude. We are now about 1500 miles due west of San Luis Obisbo (north of Pt. Conception). Kaneohe Bay is now 870 miles to our south.
-Paul