Day 2: Where did the wind go?
19 July 2016 | 14 56.57'S:156 47.70'W, Between Bora Bora and Suwarrow Atoll
Mark
Days at sea completed: 2
Distance sailed in the last 24 hours (nm): 140 Distance sailed total (nm): 304 Distance to go (nm): 381
Wind Speed & Direction (knots): SE 8 Waves (ft): E 4' Weather: Partially sunny, occasional rain
Where did the wind go is definitely the question of the day! All day yesterday we continued to barrel along, mostly at 7-8 knots. Then, last evening the wind started to get lighter, and lighter. By the start of Dee's shift at 1am, there was too little wind to sail and we started motoring. A small trough is shown in the weather map so instead of sitting in the trough, we decided to motor slowly to get past the trough to an area of better wind.
This morning, we still don't have much wind and continue to motor at about 5 knots. I do expect the wind to pick up late today and hopefully be consistent for the next couple of days to get us to Suwarrow. The good news is that the seas settled right down with the wind, since there is nothing harder on a boat and its sails than no wind and rolly seas.
With all the motoring, rain, and the dying wind last night we are both pretty tired right now. I was up and down several times during my sleep shift and have only had about 3-4 hours sleep, per day, the last couple of days. Dee is faring better, and sleeping more, but is pretty tired as well. No real complaints from either of us, though. This has been a generally pleasant and comfortable passage - as passages go!
Fingers crossed for the SE wind to build today so we can start sailing along again. We are sure looking forward to visiting Suwarrow with its interesting history.
Picture: early this morning, just after sunrise, there was a nice double rainbow to port. After a very wet night, we are looking forward to some sun to dry things out.