Day 35, Mon 24th July. 51-59N, 135-13W. Daily Run: 93 NM. Weather: 0-6 Knots SE, Sunny and cold, 306 NM to go
Becalmed for 5 hours in the night, I dropped the sails and we drifted aimlessly for a few hours before I decided to put the engine on and risk getting very low on fuel, putting the sails away and turning the engine on usually brings the wind, and this was no exception, in a few hours we had 5 knots of wind, and we have been crawling along ever since. Our target for today will be missed by a few hours, but overall we are doing better than I first hoped for. Our daily run of 93 Miles includes a few miles heading due north in the night.
It seems the yeast we have isn’t working too well, and Kathy’s loaves from yesterday make great toast but probably wouldn’t win first price in a baking contest. I had a go and gave the yeast a lot more time to work, and it seems to help. Sadly there is a shortage of offshore yeast suppliers in this region, so we will have to make do for a few more days.
The weather forecast I download each morning shows what I know, i.e. that we are still plagued by this high pressure system, and like yesterday it tells me it will end shortly. It’s not much of a forecast if it’s only ever correct in hindsight. All the forecasts show big winds in the charlotte sound/strait, I bet it’s beset with calms from this High by the time we get there. But that won’t mater as I have assumed we will need to motor then anyway, either against strong tides, or if needed, in weak winds, and so our reserve 20 litres will cover us for that last stretch I hope.
I have just read that the risk from stray logs in the area we are heading is very high, and a sharp lookout with no nighttime sailing is highly recommended, this adds a further complication to my tidal passage planing, but that’s a job for tomorrow, when I have a better idea of our arrival time.
So right now we are making about 3-4 knots in 6-7 knots of wind, close hauled, heading ESE, with only 300 miles to go, we are almost there.
Paul Collister
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A Baba/Tashiba 40 Sailing yacht and her travels