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Tuesday, May 07, 2013

Day 20 & 21

Tuesday Noon

We have sailed clear of the ECC finally. Slowly, bit by bit, our hourly speed went from 3.8 to 5.5 and sometimes over 6. The weather is improving and the sea temperature has dropped as well (another sign we are clear of the current), so there's nothing to stand in the way of our arrival in Atuona (Hiva Oa).

Nothing that is, except just under 1000 miles of open ocean. I've actually been waiting for this point. Our depth sounder, which we use as a navigation display for distance-to-go, will not display more than 1000.0 miles. It must be that anything more than 1000 miles is 'just too far to think about.' Yesterday I put our landfall waypoint into the GPS, told the GPS to 'GoTo' and waited while the distance went from 1002 down to 999.9, simply for the pleasure of watching the depth sounder flip down from 1000.0. Is my life rich or what?

In other news we got one last good look at Polaris (the North Star) the other night. We were at about 4 degrees North Latitude which is normally far too close to the equator to see Polaris. It is usually obscured in clouds and haze below 10 degrees. But it was exceptionally clear on Sunday night so we were able to catch a last glimpse of it before we dip down below the equator.

We expect to be at sea another 7-10 days. Subtracting the two days we spent at Socorro that gives us a passage of 26-29 days. Not great, an average speed of 4-4.3 knots, but not bad for a boat with a 29 foot waterline. However, last night on the radio net we heard from a boat that has been underway for 37 days and counting. They should be arriving soon, but their average speed is just over 3 knots. Now that's a long passage.

Tomorrow we cross the equator!

(for the 7th time)


{GMST}01|45|N|130|22|W|Mexico to Marquesas Day 21|Day 21{GEND}