Date: 11 August 2009 1900 UTC (1200 Samadhi Time)
Distance sailed in last 23 hours: 176 nm
Distance to Half Moon Bay: 509 nm
Latitude: 38 50.732 N
Longitude: 133 07.621 W
COG: 080M
SOG: 7.5 kts under sail
Wind: 10 kts SW
Seas: 1.5 ft W swell, 1 ft SW wind waves
Weather: 75% Cloud Cover
Barometric Pressure: 1020.0, rising
Sea Temperature: 69 F
The winds continued pushing Samadhi along at a rapid clip until 6 p.m. yesterday. After that, the wind suddenly moved directly astern of us and dropped to less than 10 knots. This shift caused us much consternation as we rolled about in the leftover seas. The sails on a sailboat not only provide the power to move through the water, but also the force to stabilize the boat. Take away the wind, and you also take away the stabilizing effect. Samadhi was rolling around so much, as to prevent Kelly from being able to sleep.
Then, it started to rain, not a warm tropical sprinkling but a continuous cold shower. At 10 p.m. we decided to start the engine to get the boat moving again. Once the engine was going, Samadhi rolled less, and Kelly managed to sleep. After midnight the wind began to pick up again and move back towards our beam. By 1 a.m. we were back to sailing with all of our working sails out, drawing us along a 8-10 knots. Looking back, it would seem like we encountered a massive wet and cold "squall", but that's probably not the right term for it.
Today, the wind is slightly less brisk, and the seas significantly smoother. The skies are mostly gray, and the air over the 69º ocean is predictably cool. Both of us are tired after last night's sleep-disturbing rolling.
We celebrated Kelly's birthday all day yesterday. She has never had a birthday quite like her 31st. From the albatrosses to the jellyfish to freinds and family ashore, even passing tankers, everyone wished Kelly a happy birthday.
Assuming we can keep this pace, we'll be arriving in Pillar Point early Friday morning. The winds are supposed to slack tomorrow though and then we've got some heavy weather and seas waiting for us on Thursday. It's fairly clear we'll be making it to port sometime on Friday though. We're both looking forward to sleeping the night through.
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