Date: 10 August 2009 2000 UTC (1200 Samadhi Time)
Distance sailed in last 24 hours: 191 nm
Distance to Half Moon Bay: 687 nm
Latitude: 39 05.251 N
Longitude: 136 55.296 W
COG: 078M
SOG: 8.4 kts under sail
Wind: 17 kts SSW
Seas: 2 ft WSW swell, 2 ft SSW wind waves
Weather: 50% Cloud Cover
Barometric Pressure: 1019.5, falling
Sea Temperature: 70 F
Tomorrow we plan to make our last time change to Pacific Daylight Time (UTC -07). You can expect our report an hour earlier.
The wind has picked up and so has our speed. Samadhi has been surging ahead, happy to be on the move once more. We have seen our speed increase to 11.9 knots on several occasions, but so far we haven't broken 12. We know Samadhi can go faster if the wind and waves cooperate, and we are crossing our fingers that today will be an even faster day.
As the Arctic low has moved in behind us, the ocean temperature has dropped steadily. Most of the morning it's been sitting at 69ºF. Combined with sailing downwind, this has made the boat interior rather colder than we'd like. Yesterday afternoon, this led to us digging out our three-piece, canvas and clear vinyl "cruising curtain" that turns our dodger into a makeshift pilothouse. We'd had the curtain rolled up and stowed since we left California almost two years ago. Boy, what a difference it makes! This morning, inside its shelter on deck, it was almost up to 90 degrees in the "pilothouse" while the temperature below decks was a toasty 80 degrees. The outside air temp has been in the mid 60s to low 70s. We sit happily in the boat, pretending we are still in the tropics... sure beats wearing our foul weather gear to stay toasty warm!
In the early evening, the line for second reef in the mainsail managed to untie itself while we were sailing. Luckily, we spotted the dangling line before it pulled completely out of the sail. Some mid-ocean gymnastics put things right once more. Hanging over the racing seas while trying to concentrate on retying the line correctly was exciting. The fact that Phillip was wearing a safety harness tethered to the boat reportedly did little to make him feel safer.
We passed a cargo vessel yesterday, destined for Korea. The vessel was a RORO (short for Roll-On, Roll-Off) which carry cars and trucks around the world. ROROs are the weirdest looking ships afloat. They remind us of something you would build out of Legos. This morning we were passed by an oil tanker bound for Panama. It was beautiful to watch the giant ship slide by under the morning sun.
Today is Kelly's birthday! Phillip baked her fresh candied-ginger scones for breakfast. They were a real treat and absolutely delicious. Kelly can't imagine a more special place to celebrate her birthday than 600 miles offshore on the clear blue Pacific. We'll be very sad to leave this behind, but the time for new, land-based adventures is upon us. We're eager to see what's in store for us and the boys in the year to come.
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