11.30 pm (LT Thurs) Had a good meal earlier - usual omelette with potatoes and onions followed by welcome mug of tea and biscuits (Thanks for the mug, Becky!) Having to try to drink more - easy to become dehydrated simply from lack of drinking in cold weather.
Found us hove-to (yet again...), Swell catches us when close to wind and so too easy for boat to tack and back the genoa... Had to release wheel and swing us around through 180 degrees to stop us from drifting North.
Hoping wind will back to E of S soon so we can head SW - away from coast again. Don't want to get too close in and especially don't want to get anywhere near Cape Blanco.
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10am Rough ride!! Wind is over 20 kt, there's 2.5m swell from WSW and rough 1.5m wind waves from SE. Two reefs in main & reduced genoa a bit but might have to furl in more - we keep heeling a lot, with plenty of banging and crashing ino the waves.
Wind has backed into ESE and we're heading due S close-hauled, 85ml off Willapa Bay, WA.
1pm Still rough - suspect this will go on for several days.... Wind ~25kt or so, now.
5pm Rougher now - more so than before, with bashing into 25-35 kt winds and big seas. Sunday-Monday looks grim! Could well deploy series drogue... And Tues-Wed ??
Heading due S while the wind allows it. Still have just two reefs in, should have reefed down further but hanging on with two - lesson learned yet again - reduce sail early!! Wind got up to over 30 kt for quite a time... Heavy rain at one point and seas continually washing the decks - and over the cockpit at times. Good to have sea room....
11pm (LT Sat) - wind abated and veered to SW - I'd fallen asleep and missed 8.30pm Pacific Seafarers' Net.
Hove-to... Genoa taken over to port - we're close-hauled on starboard tack now and sailing smoothly in lesser seas. Wind dying down - was 15kt, down to 10 kt by midnight. Time for a nice mug of tea.... Another even bigger blow expected later on Sunday...