SV Panta Rhei Retirement Trip

We're motoring. The wind has died. The same thing happened yesterday but we lay and slatted before finally breaking down and starting the engine. Later in the day we got some wind but the progress for the day suffered from our delay. We sure hope the wind returns again today. We don't have enough fuel to just keep motoring until we get there. Motoring makes an easy watch. I don't have to run the gen set or check the sails. I do have to look for wind though.

The GRIB files tell the story. We have decreasing wind close to the Marquesas. And there are "holes" in the decreased wind field. We're in one of those holes. Instead of slow progress we get no progress. Bummer.

Yesterday we took down the mainsail and patched another small tear. This one we caught early; it was only about 3 inches long. We fashioned a very pretty patch and the mainsail is now back in service.

The waves are huge and irregular but widely spaced. It is hard to say how high they are. They could be 4 meters peak to trough. We ride up and down them with no issue but I can see how with wind it could turn into an issue. I'm the only person that is intimidated on the boat though. There are also whole fields of flying fish. Not much else to see though. There are some birds, little dark ones and one larger white one. Ornithologists, we are not. Blue water. It is nice in the cockpit. At 3 am local time (my watch now) Hilda Hottie says it is 80 degrees OAT.

One more thing: Katie turned 59. I suppose that is the good news for the day!

Trip log: 14000 Distance to go: 525 nm Solar power for the day: 89 AHr (2.3 kWHr) distance from Wreck Bay: 2625 nm