Worrall Wind Update - Day 2 to American Samoa

UTC/Local Time: Sunday, September 5 0000/Saturday, September 4 1400

Latitude: 13 59.267 S
Longitude: 165 12.668 W

Course Over Ground: 285 @ 5.3 knots
Wind Direction: ESE 20 knots
Sea Swell: 9 foot cross seas
Sky: 0% clouds
Barometric Pressure: 1017

Update: Day 2 to American Samoa

Last night the seas were restless, and we had a couple of squalls on my watch with winds reaching 35+ knots with rain. There was no moon. We could see intermittent stars between squalls. The cross seas would come from the northeast and southeast often colliding behind and under the boat (which was good, gave us fast ride), on the sides of the boat (which was bad, we would rock and roll from side to side).

We've gotten very comfortable with how Worrall Wind responds in these conditions. She is very responsive and rights herself without fail which gives us great confidence when the winds are howling and the seas very agitated. In these conditions we are triple reefed and have about 1/2 of our jib out. Still we are moving a long at a reasonable (albeit slower speed), but the boat seems balanced and not overly heeled.

We may not be comfortable as it often feels like being in a washing machine, but not too concerned for safety as we are locked down tight and go out tethered up only if absolutely necessary. We do have to stuff towels on the lower part of the sliding doors to keep water from squirting up and in the boat when the water comes over the rail and through the scuppers.

We've also put a hard sponge in front of the sliding hatch so that when we are pitching, it doesn't slam forward as it has done in the past. We have also attached a bungie cord to the hatch handle and the latch on the rim to keep the hatch from sliding backwards to full open. Russ likes to hold on the hatch rim, and I am always concerned that his fingers will get slammed. If we pitch up and the skylight hatch falls all the way back, it requires us to both go outside, pickup the hatch, and put it on its rails to close.

After our first night, we pretty much have figured where all the clinks, groans, and rattles are coming from and quiet them down by stuffing sponges, hand towels, and rolls of paper towels everywhere to stifle the noise. I think the constant noise drives us crazy. There are a few creaks that we simply can't seem to get rid of, but guess that's just part of natural boat noise.

Hydie our windvane steering system is backup and running perfectly. We sure do love her, quiet, efficient, and doesn't gobble up power.  Right now the winds have subsided a bit, there isn't a cloud in the sky, and the seas are slightly more settled than they were earlier in the day. We just gybed because we had gone about 20 miles south of our course line due to the wind direction.

Now we are moving north west back to course. This course over ground with the swells and windwaves is not as comfortable. We plan to cross the course line and then gybe back to the southwest for the night. As of now our estimated arrival calculator is putting us in American Samoa late Tuesday which means we may need to heave to so that we arrive during daylight hours. As we get closer, we will decide to either put the motor on and speed it up to get there earlier on Tuesday or slow it down and get there Wednesday morning.

It's time for nap so I can stay awake on watch tonight. Russ has already taken one and will probably need another in a little while. We are both reading good books which is not conducive to sleep....unless it's our watch. Is Worrall Wind's SPOT working? Family are you getting daily messages and tracking reports? Let us know.

All is well on Worrall Wind.