A whole lot of motorin' goin' on! At least it seemed that way. Looking back at the stats I guess there was more light air sailing in the mix, including one brief attempt at using the spinnaker to keep us moving. The good news is that in the dark hours of this morning John turned off the engine and we started romping in the bigger seas and white caps of a stiff breeze. We still have a hot sun, warm sea temps, and big clouds with lots of overcast (which somehow don't do a thing to help dampen the intense heat), but hopefully we are finished with any lingering effects of the ITCZ and are in the home stretch now.
We are definitely there in terms of time. There's something reassuring about being able to say, "We'll be arriving in Hilo one week from today." And after that to be counting down days that make up less than a week! Actually it's the night countdown which is most significant because those are the hardest to get through when you're tired. Although at least there's some relief in the cooler temps of the night.
We've seen lots of birds most days. Shearwaters, a petrel here and there, terns, and even a dedraggled looking Masked Booby yesterday. But the coolest thing so far happened last night at 11:35. I was out in the cockpit doing my horizon scan and looking forward. A flash of light made me turn my head to the West where I'd watched the sun set earlier. I didn't even think "shooting star" initially because the thing was like a yellow ball of fire, at least twice the size of a planet, and diving left to right just above the clouds on the horizon before it burned out. I don't recall seeing a tail so I wouldn't call it a comet. Let me know if you hear of any satellite flame outs in the news...
Linda
Day 16 Stats
Course: 321 degrees True
Trip Mileage: 97 nm
Water Temp: 83.5 to 81.3 F (trending down)
Engine Hours: 7.8
Day 17 Stats
Course: 319 degrees True
Trip Mileage: 118 nm
Water Temp: 84.9 to 81.5 F (trending up then down)
Engine Hours: 13.6
{GMST}11|35.1|N|144|34.4|W|Tuamotus to Hawaii Day 17|Day 17{GEND}
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