Date: 6 August 2009 2100 UTC (1200 Samadhi Time)
Distance sailed in last 24 hours: 164 nm
Distance to Half Moon Bay: 1403 nm
Latitude: 38 26.578 N
Longitude: 151 07.743 W
COG: 052M
SOG: 7.0 kts under power
Wind: 4 kts SE
Seas: 2 ft W swell
Weather: 20% Cloud Cover
Barometric Pressure: 1028.6, steady
Sea Temperature: 76 F
Apparently we spoke too soon when we said the wind had returned in yesterday's report. Not long after sending the email out, the wind once again shut off. So, we have been motoring (we would say motorsailing, but the sails aren't doing much) since. Motoring isn't bad though, the seas are approaching completely flat, and Samadhi is making excellent progress at low, fuel-efficient power settings.
Later yesterday afternoon, we spotted a large vessel on radar. Soon after our radar contact, we picked it up on the AIS. According to the AIS and the radar, the Korea bound vessel "Formosa 11" was on a near collision course, and steaming at over 14 knots. As the weather was crystal clear and seas were flat, we expected to see the vessel altering course to pass astern of us. As we watched the vessel growing closer, it was obvious that it was a tanker, and that it wasn't changing course.
We decided to call them on the radio and ask if they see us. Phillip called twice, but there was no answer from the tanker. This struck us as strange, because there is NO VHF radio traffic out here, so if you hear someone on the radio, you pay attention. Kelly tried calling again a few minutes later and got a response, which was nearly unintelligible. Although we couldn't understand everything they were saying (They probably weren't native English speakers.), they seemed to understand us. Abruptly after our radio conversation, they made a large course change to pass astern of us.
The weather has become markedly less squally, but it did look like it was about to rain through part of the night. Passing under some dark overcast areas with the bright full moon illuminating the surrounding sea was beautiful in a black and white kind of way. This morning's sunrise was equally spectacular.
We haven't been fishing, but we have been eating lots of mahi mahi.
The very small amount of wind we have been experiencing overnight is moving around more towards the southeast. We have started to turn towards our new course which will reach early tomorrow. By tomorrow we will be headed straight (more or less) for Half Moon Bay. There is a certain amount of comedy in "Sail straight out into the Pacific, then turn right!" but that is indeed what we are doing.
Also, this is the first day where the barometer has actually fallen. (It was even lower early this morning.) This is another indication that the time has come to head for home.
Finally, we are planning to change time zones tomorrow to UTC -8 (Alaska Daylight Time). you can expect our update 1 hour earlier.
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