5am - Dark with hint of first light and rosy-pink beginning of dawn along NE horizon under dark overcast sky.
Seas relatively calm - swell much less. Speed down and wind backing into NW. Had adjusted the wind vane for better speed and noticed we were headed due W! Time to change tack... So now we're headed NE and expecting (hoping!) the forecast is right and wind will slowly back some more - at least we're heading in roughly the right diection - we'll see what the wind does over the next few days...
Ran the generator for half an hour - batteries were getting low. Need to check the oil level later today - could well need topping up. Caught up with several amateur radio friends while genset was running.
Back for a little more sleep before Single-Handed TransPac Net at 8am, to help with their position reporting by relaying if needed....
...............
10am Full sail - just shook out the first reef - noticed we were really going slowly in lighter NW wind of 10-12 kt.
11am Tried downloading weather faxes from Honolulu for info on hurricane Blas - very poor copy but shows it's headed due W, so not a problem - except for the big seas it might generate. They'd travel a long way and could be seen by the racers, and maybe even by me, also. Usually get a better fax signal from Pt Reyes which I'll get later today.
Midday Spoke to Randy, KH6RC, on the Big Island of Hawaii - Blas is predicted to diminish in wind strength over next few days and swell from it is not so big further north as to cause any problem - good news for the SHTP racers
7pm Fairly calm conditions with genlte swell from NNW, overcast. Have been making only 1-2 knots in NW 8knots for quite a time, headed NE, but wind has just backed into WNW now and increased to 13 kt, so we're making 015T (NNE) at just over 3kt.
Had been looking at option of using motor in light winds to get further NW since don't want to end up near coast in strong northerlies and forecast is all for NW-NNW winds, light for 2-3 days but becoming strong in 4-5 days' time. Have 4-5 days of fuel left, if motor gently. While wind stays WNW, will keep sailing.
9pm Wind has been up around 16kt for a time now and varying between NW and NNW, so course more NE now but varying a lot.. There's a lot of cloud around, not just an overcast layer, with a dark cloud to the W, so maybe that's caused the wind change. I really need to get more west, if possible, so as not to have a problem making the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca...