Weather update:

Present position:07 deg 10.6' E 161 deg 59.1 E COG: 090 deg SOG: 5.2kts Estimated position 24hours: 07 deg 12.2' N 164 deg 20.5 E Baro:29.68 Wind:ENE 16-18 Seas: 3-4 Meter confused Clouds:80% covered areas of clear aft and to the North

Summary:540 nm, from Majuro. We continue to persevere in sloppy seas.

The people on the bus go up and down! Most of the evening and for all my shift, winds were steady in the mid 20 kt range. Seas have grown somewhat and are a combination of a Southern swell from downunder where it is late fall and to our NE from who knows where. Add wind chop onto that and for most of the time things are routine but every so often, all those factors combine to peak what I call a BAW, or big ass wave. As we climb it, the bottom falls out and 38 tons of diesel duck finds the water below with a bit of a splash. No problem for me as I sleep aft in the double bed but Roger sleeps forward in airborne alley. He gets to experience zero gravity for a bit as he can be suspended over his bunk, while knowing that gravity always wins. True to his nature he is smiling and enthusiastic every morning!

The good news is that for ocean going sailors, this is not bad and for a group who are used to being in control of their lives and surroundings, it is a good experience to take what one is dealt. Can't find shelter, can't complain, and can't ask Mr. Wizard to get us out of here. For me, this is one of the big reasons I embarked on this voyage; to gain the experience of being in seas and knowing the capabilities of the boat and myself. So while it is not what I would choose, I am happy that we are dealing well with the conditions and happy that these are trade winds and not to beginning of a big low pressure system bearing down on us.

I hope we don't get to experience the ocean in a more agitated state as two Duck owners did recently and wrote this description. I am happy to read about this and take their words for it. Or, as my late Aunt Fanny used to say, "God forbid a million times!"

Quote from Jef A on David K's DD 462 named, "Duckin A"

The 1300 mile trip was terrible! 17-20 foot breaking very steep short interval head seas with 30-40 knots of wind, down to 3 SOG knots at times. We were two days late to the boat show. We used bouyweather.com for our forecasts. Never again, they were completely wrong. The weather deteriorated very quickly. We could not head to a safe harbor (east) to wait the weather out because it would have meant exposing the boat broadside to these breaking swell for a long period of time. It was either head into them (north) or run with them (south). That is the bad news. The good news is that the boat handled it with no problems. Imagine waves constantly breaking against the bow and on the salon roof and slamming against the pilothouse windows. The boat would go up the steep swells after shrugging off the last breaking swell and drop off of the back side with the bow down and then have another wave immediately break over the bow again. I am completely satisfied the boat can handle most a nything. I am glad the flushdeck Duck design does not have the deep sidedecks and deep cockpit of my previous boat. That could have been a major problem with the breaking swells.