Date: 07/16      

Noon to noon run: 135NM
Time of position: 18:00
Lat/Lon: 06 02.31'N deg 148 deg 17.02'W
Course: 310 deg Mag
Current Speed: 4.6 kt
Next Waypoint:    18 deg 50.39'N; 155 deg 36.08'W
            SE point of Hawaii Is.
             881 NM distance approximate

Synopsis: Yesterday, even as we turned the corner from our previous heading of due north and pointed straight for Hawaii, the wind clocked as well. A lot of it is the effect of Emilia. Even though Emilia has been totally downgraded from a hurricane to not even being mentioned as a post tropical depression any more, and even though it is 400 NM north of us it is still impacting the winds and weather in this area. And, according to the grib files should do so for the next couple of days which means even more close reaching, and probably at times close hauled sailing. To this point this crossing has been a totally different ride from our down wind sleigh ride from Mexico to the Marquesas.

The latest surface analysis indicates that the ITCZ lies between about 5 and 7 degrees north and we have seen an increasing proliferation of squall lines and grey skies as the day progressed. As such,we expect tonight to be quite black and filled with squalls. With no moon until about an hour or so before sunrise (and even then it will only be a sliver) it will be a black night indeed. But, hey, maybe we will get lucky and it will be a whole lot nicer. Last night even though we had a few squalls we enjoyed long periods of clear skies and a heaven filled with stars, not to mention our own milky way galaxy!

Cheers,

John