Wednesday Midday Tahiti/Hawaii time (Wed 2200 GMT) Another bright, sunny day with a few scattered white clouds. Making just under 6kt in 15kt wind from SE . Seas are still 2m so being tossed around at times but mainly smooth sailing. Full genoa, two reefs in main and on course of 030T.
Fishing vessels N - NW of us... Hope we continue to stay well apart....
Very relaxing, warm day - about to catch up on sleep, as usual around this time, with a gentle breeze blowing down from a small fan - lovely!
3pm Getting meal ready - tuna with some mayonnaise
Latest on ITCZ:
ITCZ FROM 08N146W TO 07N170W TO 06N179W TO 10N170E TO 10N160E.
SCATTERED MODERATE TSTMS FROM 09N TO 03N BETWEEN 148W AND
171W.
Looks as though we'll just catch the E end of it near 145W - hopefully, we might get lucky and not see any major convection giving nasty squalls or rainstorms.
Slowed down a tad with wind down to around 15kt now but still sailing well. On the same good course of around 030T - keeping us clear of fishing fleet as well as giving good wind angle for later on when we head towards Hawaii in the NE Trades.
5:45pm Sun getting low.-- getting noticeably later as we get further N. Continuing steady wind and good sailing...
Thursday 5:30am Tahiti/Hawaii time (Thurs 1530GMT) Full daylight. Wind came up a bit overnight - noise of boat moving faster through water woke me up! A lot of light cloud around but no rain clouds in sight - hoping for another day of no squalls. Cabin temperature 30C or more.
Enjoying lovely Trade Wind sailing - very smooth just now.
8:30am Downloading weatherfaxes, grib files and satpics. Seeing a Tropical Depression forecast to move towards Hawaii from ESE as we start heading that way in a few days' time from 10N - will need to keep a careful watch.... It's hurricane season now. But first we have to get through the ITCZ (Doldrums)
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While sailing around the world, I'm trying to raise funds to help support the superb life-saving work done by the RNLI (Lifeboats) in Britain each and every day of the year, regardless how bad the weather. In fact, the worse it is, the more likely they are out there, helping someone in distress - whether a swimmer, surfer, small boat or big ship, night or day, summer or winter, and it is a charity - no government funding - so they rely on our help to fund their intensive training and maintain their equipment.
It would be great if you would take a moment to click on the Lifeboats link here (https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Jeanne-Socrates2), if you'd like to show your support for my efforts at sailing solo, nonstop, unassisted around the globe, trying to set a World Record as the oldest person to do so, by donating something towards the great work the RNLI do every day. If a lot of people put in even a small amount, it all adds up... Thanks a lot! If you can help, it will be very much appreciated. Let's see if we can reach my target!
(I hear that some readers might need to talk to their bank BEFORE trying to make a donation to the RNLI since many US banks routinely block foreign transactions unless
they are notified in advance.)
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1900GMT (= 9 a.m. LT = Tahiti/Hawaii time) - end of Day 295. We made 132 n.ml. DMG, measured in a straight line between the two 1900GMT positions. Another good day of Trade Wind sailing - without any squalls.
Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 295 (by daily DMGs): 24,233 n.ml.
Distances (at 1700GMT): Equator: 243 n.ml. to S; East Cape, N.Z.: 3166 n.ml. to SW; Papeete, Tahiti: 1307 n.ml. to S; Honolulu: 1223 n.ml. to NNW; Christmas Island: 662 n.ml.to WSW; Fanning Island: 760 n.ml. to WSW
Position, as posted to www.Winlink.org and www.Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):
TIME: 2019/07/25 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 04-02.78N LONGITUDE: 146-39.56W
COURSE: 034T SPEED: 5.7kt
WIND_SPEED: 15kt WIND_DIR: SE SWELL_DIR: SE SWELL_HT: 2.0m CLOUDS: 40%
BARO: 1012.8hPa TREND: 2 AIR_TEMP: 30.0C SEA_TEMP: 36.0C
COMMENT: Bright, sunny, SE Trades - sailing in steady wind, no squalls, SSE of fishing fleets.