Blue Water
09 August 2012 | south
Mark
We left Kuahako Bay on Aug 7th at 1000 bound for Palmyra and motor sailed in the light west winds waiting for the trades to fill. And buy did they! Though the gribs all showed 15 knots (and the VHF weather forecasted 15-20 knots), we had all of 30 with gusts over 35 and lots of whitecaps. This, we expected to subside after clearing farther away from the south end of Hawaii, but it kept up into the evening and brought lots of large waves in the 15 foot range. It's been a pretty boisterous sail so far, though the wind has settled closer to the 20- 24 knot range. We made 170 miles first day, so we're doing good though neither lolo or I feel like doing much. It was a pretty long night with just the two of us now and we're in for another, but we're making good headway. Last night the moon rose and shone brightly on the sails (double reefed main and bit of jib). Tonight the milky way stretches from horizon to horizon with lots of depth. I'll watch the big dipper set again before handing a 3 hour watch over to lolo. Going to be tired and ready for that Palmyra lagoon!