No wind + motoring Shower Day
16 May 2007 | 180 NM of Oregon Coast
Morgan MacKay
Sun rose on the horizon about an hour ago. Promises to be a warm sunny day. No wind. Motoring South. We had a rough night last night. The wind slowly shifted south over yesterday. By evening we were beating into the wind under double reefed main and staysail. The worse part was the confused seas. Every few minutes the boat would launch of a swell and land hard. We altered course slightly inland to increase the angle of the swell. The beating lasted until after midnight when the wind backed a couple points. However, even now, without a breath of wind, the seas our rolly and coming from two directions.
We've been watching the weather closely and expected the wind to shift and die as it did, but I didn't expect the erratic swell. It looks like we are sailing directly into a small high-pressure system with shifty winds. If I knew more about weather, I could have plotted us a course to maximize the conditions, but my skill aren't that great, and we deemed it better not to gamble. We'll motor through on a rhum line, hoping to pickup some wind this afternoon.
We talked to Ron and Peter (VE7BGK & W6DEI) on the ham radio. We've set up a contact schedule on 7.150mhz @ 0400z daily. Some of the BCA fleet team will be listening in. It's nice to know people at home will be actively tracking us by computer and voice.
We haven't seen any traffic in the last couple days. No luck fishing yet either. Tyler cooked up some potatoes last night. I'm making hash browns, eggs and bacon for breakfast. Rice and fish are on the dinner menu. Chicken will be substituted for fish if my luck continues.
Later, -Morgan