HI to MX Day 11

Another squally day and night aboard NAKIA. The weather has been pretty difficult the last couple of days. First the wind backs off to almost nothing (10 kts). It stays that way for anywhere between 10 minutes and half an hour, and we bob around with very little sail up waiting for the inevitable 25-30 kts squall that lasts about the same amount of time. So half the time we're barely moving and the other half the time it feels like we're going to fly apart. This makes it very hard to make progress.

Later today the wind is supposed to shift into the south again, in advance of a front which we hope will push us close to our turning point (now estimated at 32.5 N 135 W). That is 550 mile away and normally I would figure we'd be there in 5 days, but at this rate I think it will take 7-8 days. We'll see.

If anyone is interested, we've sailed about 1050 miles so far, and are a mere 775 miles from Hilo. That's an average speed of just over 3 knots. Not great, in fact not even good...

{GMST}26|39|N|143|6|W|Hawaii to Mexico Day 11|Day 11{GEND}