There are good ships and wood ships
And ships that sail the seas
But the best ships are the friendships
And may they ever be...

Monday, September 3, 2012

Day 19

Date: 09/03            
Noon to noon run: 138NM
Time of position: 6PM (HST)
Lat/Lon: 48 20.20N  132 10.79W
Course: 073 deg Mag
Current Speed: 6.5kt
Next Waypoint: 48.00N; 135.00W
        Range: 166
      Bearing: 072m

Synopsis The winds clocked aft in the early hours of the morning and created some slow going for a while until I woke up about 6:30 to 7AM after coming off watch at 3AM, and we polled out the genoa. Then life got better as the boat motion settled down and speed picked up. Late this afternoon the wind has been filling in nicely.

At some point we will have to deal with another section of strong winds created by the HI as it has reestablished itself and is sitting close to the coast. This creates a compression effect, kind of like squeezing the wind into a narrow slot. We see this along the California Coast every summer and is partially why the northern California coast is called gale alley among local sailors.

Well, it looks like we are going to get to deal with the same thing closing on the coast up here. The good news is that we broke the 300NM mile mark just about noon today so we are closing in on Cape Flattery. Now, if we can only get past the compression zone. Once again, wish us luck.

Cheers, John

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