S/V Samadhi V - Passage from Hawaii to California, Day 2

S/V Samadhi V - Passage from Hawaii to California, Day 2

Date: 1 August 2009 2200 UTC (1200 Samadhi Time)
Distance sailed in last 24 hours: 161 nm
Distance to Half Moon Bay: 2197 nm
Latitude: 26 41.457 N
Longitude: 157 35.049 W
COG: 020M
SOG: 6.5 kts under sail
Wind: 12 kts ENE
Seas: 4 ft E swell
Weather: 10% Cloud Cover
Barometric Pressure: 1019.8, steady
Sea Temperature: 80 F

The seas have calmed a bit since yesterday. We are no longer taking solid water over the bow, just the occasional spray. The skies have fewer clouds, and we haven't had any rain squalls in the last day. The swells are still close together, but they are smaller and coming more from the side of the boat instead of directly into the bow. Not surprisingly, we haven't seen another vessel (or any other sign of humans) since we left Kauai.

Our second day has gone past without significant events to distinguish it. We are continuing under a single reefed main and staysail. We had some technical issues receiving e-mail yesterday, but we were able to download our messages in the end. We will troubleshoot the e-mail further today. Aside from that, our greatest crisis was the lack of defrosted fish cake (all was frozen) for our fresh Saimin dinner night.

We are taking advantage of the conditions and catching up on our sleep! The beginning of a passage typically leaves us tired as our bodies adjust to the constant motion. Since the boys aren't cruising with us for this passage we have been treating ourselves to extra sleep. We still maintain a 24 hour watch on Samadhi, so our rest comes in 3 hour increments. We are also getting lots of time to catch up on reading while on watch.

Sailing upwind comes with a side benefit that our wind generator is constantly powered up. Another benefit is that the autopilot doesn't need to work as hard to keep Samadhi on course. The net result is that we are able to run the boat completely on solar and wind power. When we were sailing from Costa Rica the light winds meant using the diesel generator to charge our batteries, not so on this passage (so far).

Just before noon we made our first significant course change, taking us in a slightly more easterly direction. We'll see how this course works out for us.