Day 6
31 December 1969 | North pacific
"What a difference a day makes ..", as the song goes. At dawn this morning the skies cleared, the wind shifted to the west and we were able to pull our genoa out, albeit still motor sailing. The winds have slowly filled and we have just turned off our engine and are cruising along in blissful silence. The forecast is for light west winds to hold until tomorrow morning when they are due to build to 15-20 knots from the SW-WSW; a forgiving angle given our desired course. The longer term forecast is looking okay except for two potential glitches. Firstly, all models suggest the wind will die on us around 2 days out of King Cove, so we are expecting to motor for the last 1-3 days of the passage. Secondly, the GFS model is forecasting the wind to briefly shift to the NNE and build to 39 knots around the 3rd June just prior to the winds falling away to nothing. This is not showing on the ECWMF nor did it show on the GFS model's previous update so we're hoping it will disappear when we download our next weather update tonight. Having an extra crew is working very well. Mike is good company as we expected and we are all getting plenty of sleep. For the first time I have been sleeping on the aft bed. I propped both mattresses so that I am sleeping in a deep V which works well even in messy seas.