Approaching ITCZ
10 August 2012 | south
Mark
We are just finishing up day 3 and will have a noon to noon run here in a few hours. Last night's harvest yeilded 3 dead flying fish on deck this morning. Our run for day 2 was 163 miles. Not too bad. As we get closer to the Palmyra, we have to consider the ITCZ or Inter tropical convergence zone (otherwise known as the dreaded doldrums.) This is a fluid area where clockwise rotating north pacific weather, current and wind converge with counterclockwise rotating southern hemisphere patterns. It's no surprise that the wind is unpredictable and light, but the friction and heat also generate many squalls. We've had small squalls all along, but they generally pass quickly and are only a bit more wind. From what we're told, the ITCZ squalls can pack a punch and be chocked full of lightning, torrential downpours and severe winds. This makes sailing a bit of a challenge as you just can't get caught with much sail up in one of these squalls (let along a spinnaker!) The ITCZ moves several hundred miles a day back and forth and it's supposed to be closer to us now than normal. Stay tuned for some stories I suspect. It's gonna be a hot day today.