Present position: N 5deg 30' E 143deg 16.0'
estimated position in 24hrs N 5 deg 30' E 145deg 23.8
Baro 29.77, ranging last 12 hours from there down to 29.68
Seas sloppy 1-2meter swells from multiple directions, choppy surface from overnight winds, but all in all a reasonable ride right now
Wind for about 6 hrs 0600-1200 UTC wind was up as reported in 1200 UTC report; since then wind has dropped to mostly less than 10kts
out of anywhere from S to NE, but mostly E-ENE
Cloud cover 25%, mostly NE quadrant, all looking completely benign




the winds of yesterday evening, moderated overnight and we're again in comfortable seas, making good progress. We've broken 900 miles to Pohnpei, and from what we can see ahead, it looks
like today will continue to be a good day.

Although we started out with 100% cloud cover at sunset last night, enough blew away later for a good show of stars and Milky Way. Also, starting at midday yesterday the moon (quarter moon)
rose out of the sea ahead of us and tracked up, over us and down into the sea in the course of the night. Since we are traveling due east at a constant latitude, it was interesting to see the
moon stay in the same line of travel (although going the opposite direction) as we are. Rummaging thru the text from the Celestial Nav class David C, Dorothy and I took last fall, this line would
appear to be the "prime vertical circle". Years ago, when we lived on the Sonoma north coast, and had no television, we would sit out and watch the sky. We were then way more in touch (than later
living in town) with phases of the moon, movement of constellations, tracks of satellites and weather systems. I've been disappointed with the amount of cloud cover most nights as I've been
wanting to spend more time checking celestial things out in more detail. Looking and wondering about this stuff brought to mind a book on Galileo I recently read, his interest in movement of
the stars generally and the planets specifically and the trouble this got him into with the (religious) politics of the day. Not like today's world where religion does not influence politics and knowledge
stands on it's own scientific merit, unperturbed by politics. (I think that's called sarcasm).

Yesterday evening we discovered an issue with the engine gauges, although our little John Deere is running beautifully. The reason I'm mentioning it is just the coolness of being able to send off
an email (via satelite phone) to Bob Senter (at Northern Lights / Lugger / Alaskan Diesel), describing the problem, and getting back an email describing how it works and how to fix it. David and I
have taken several classes from Bob and he's the best; takes what seems incomprehensible to the novice engineer, makes it clear, non-intimidating, and something one can actually work with.
Thank you Bob!

Owning, taking care of, doing passages with a boat like this is very rarely a solo thing -- with a respectful tip of the hat to David Katz, DD44 Seaducktress who solo-ed Hong Kong to Australia
and back to the west coast USA (had one crew Hawaii to San Francisco). And fortunately it's a very helpful community; if you've followed this blog you know that whatever success Dorothy and
I have with DavidEllis and David C with Shearwater, it is based on the able, friendly and competent assistance of many -- I started to write a list and realized there's no way I could complete it before
this email needs to go off, and there's the strong possibility of leaving someone out; so suffice to say there are many. We could not have done or be doing this without you.