Pacific Crossing Day 8 and 9

All is well aboard. We are coming up to the halfway mark late this evening, and are looking forward to that accomplishment. Otherwise, the days and nights seem to blend together. A pattern has developed with the wind and waves that we've come to expect each day. By noon the wind is steady and the seas are high. By later afternoon the wind is the same and the seas are even heavier and confused. After sundown the wind slowly drops but not the sea. Sometime around midnight it is Hell Hour when we have trouble keeping the sails full while the seas slam us from side to side.

There are a couple of things we do to fill the head sail.
1. Turn upwind to bring what little wind there is up to a beam reach.
2. Flatten the main and bring it more to center so the wind can get to the genoa.
3. Roll in the genoa until it lives forward of the shrouds, catching the wind coming across the side of the boat. If it collapses, at least it does not foul in the shrouds.
4. Drop the main entirely. Downside is that we loose some stability.
5. Turn on the engine. When our speed picks up we create our own wind which can fill the genoa.
6. Pole out the jib.

Or, when it is Hell hour we can roll up the genoa, turn on the motor and power through it all until the wind picks back up. This charges the batteries and steadies the boat as well.

After Hell Hour we get into the bulk of the night hours where we try to keep everything quiet so that the crew below can sleep.

Pre dawn it is usually a little less lumpy and we are sailing just fine. Dawn and before noon is the best time of the day when we relax (sometimes catch up on the sleep we missed during a particularly rough night), enjoy the warmth, make a meal.

Rinse, wash, repeat.

Gotta go now. The wind has dropped. The sails are flapping. We are going to drop the mainsail and try poling out the genoa.

We are finding flying fish on deck each night

Now don't you wish you were here with us? We could send you forward to flake down the main.

Scott, Connie, and Scott

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