present position N 5deg 41' E 150deg 38'
estimated position 24hrs N 5deg 46.4' E 152deg 55.7'

baro 29.74; last 12 hr range 29.71 - 29.77; last 24hrs range 29.68 - 29.80
wind ENE 15 last 10 hrs wind has been 10-15kts, out of south for the first half of that, then shifting SE-E-ENE
sea: surface chop; multiple swells, none greater than 2meters
cloud 60% broken cloud cover, mostly cirrus; currently no sqalls visible or on radar




Despite some continuing weather, we're getting a tolerable (and reasonably fast at mid 6 knots) ride towards our next stop Federated States of Micronesia / Pohnpei.
We're 3 days out and it currently appears we will arrive mid-day, which is really a necessity for a first time entry through a coral reef. Regards weather, we have our
guardian angels watching our back -- Lee Chesneau (chesneaumarineweather.com retired meteorologist National Weather Service / Ocean Prediction Center) who continues
to study our route and forecasts ahead of and around us and the ever-lovely Ms Dorothy who makes sure we get that information, and Lee gets ours, in a timely* way.

*Some of you may recall my South China Sea crossing with ICE in June 2008 (if interested in the blow-by-blow, it's in the blog at that date), coinciding with the killer (literally)
typhoon Fengshen's appearance in the same space/time; as usual with my crossings I was doing 12 hr contacts with someone ashore reporting on weather for us (in this case it was
Bill Kimley, Seahorse Marine) and for some reason I don't recall, I missed the evening sat phone call to Bill. Making my call the following morning, 24hrs after the last contact, Bill's first words to me were "do you
know what's happening, and what are you doing about it?" That 12hr gap in communication eliminated several course-of-action possibilities in dealing with the typhoon,
and that's why we email every 12 hours with Lee and Dorothy and then make sat phone contact every 12 (in the gaps), so some kind of update or check for possible
updates every 6 hrs around the clock.

I awoke this morning in Shearwater's pilothouse (Wade was on watch) to a middle of the Pacific sunrise, surface chop, modest swells and a brisk breeze. I went out on deck
to admire the sunrise, and relieve myself. In my sleepy condition, it was a moment before I realized the wind was in my face at the starboard rail -- not where it's generally
been from. Thank goodness I hadn't quite gotten started and didn't need to change my clothes.

We will have another time zone change (ZD -11) just before arriving at Pohnpei. ZD-11 is the same as Sydney, Australia. And speaking of Australia, as the crow flies we are
only 1100 miles from Australia (less than the distance between Palau and Pohnpei; three times the distance we still have to travel to Hawaii -- shrimp on the barbe,
Bundaberg rum; 4X, Toohey's and VB beers; Barrier Reef diving; and many, many good friends!!) Admittedly, one would need to jog around the east end of Papua New Guinea, between here
and there, but.... (don't be surprised if the next blog entry is authored by Fletcher Christian).