RTW Day 225: N. Pacific: Another Bright But Slow Slow Day- Wind finally Veered to the SE

Monday 3rd June 2013

Speed: 0.8 kt., CSC 018T, Cloud 10%, Bar 1020

7am   After being forced onto NW course yesterday, due to the NE wind, I was pleased to see the wind finally veering … which it continued to do slowly over the morning. By 0930 winds were SE, later becoming SSE for a time. It has continued to be very light, so our speed has been 1.5-2.0 kt. again, giving a distance of only 38 miles in 24 hours. 
In order to keep the big genoa filled and to prevent it from continually collapsing while we drifted downwind, I spent a time raising the pole and polling out the genoa to starboard so we've been goose-winged from 2pm with the main sail well out to port. A pair of Laysan albatross flew by from time to time to check on my progress.  Of course, every time one of them was really close, my camera was not within reach!

Spent quite a lot of time on the foredeck and in the cockpit trimming the sails as the wind changed, so radio contacts were minimal, but had a long chat with Rob ZL1KY in New Zealand on 15m.

This evening, the winds had backed to the SE and we’re crawling along NE at 2.2 kt. On checking over a set of weather FAX downloads, I was dismayed to find a lot of grey and no sensible print-out - I've had the generator running and clearly it had interfered on frequency… grrr!!!

24hr DMG to 2300GMT: 38n.ml. Strait of Juan de Fuca: 2547n.ml. (048T); Midway Island: 170n.ml. (259T);  San Francisco 2607n.ml (064T)