Latitude: 15 26.372 S
Longitude: 172 50.326 W
Course Over Ground: 181 T @4.2 knots
Wind Direction: SE 18-20 knots
Sea Swell: ESE 2-3 meters
Sky: 70 percent cloud cover
Barometric Pressure: 1014
Update:
So far it's been a pretty bumpy, restless ride. We've had fairly constant winds in the 20-25 knot range, with squall gusts up to 30. Unlike most of our other passages where the wind has been on our stern quarter, it's almost directly on our nose as we head south. We are on a close reach with our main triple reefed and our self tacking cutter sail in place. This combination keeps the boat very steady, not too heeled, but pretty slow. The seas have been 12 feet on our beam and just before the beam often breaking on the side and across the boat.
All of our doors and hatches have been shut tight in these conditions. With the temperature at 85 and humidity at 82 percent, the boat interior is like a sweat box. The little grass fans we bought in Samoa are coming in handy. Every once in a while, we crack open the skylight on the cabin top for some fresh air. Invariably, we get a high splash that makes it in to the cabin. Nothing terrible, but enough to remind us that we need to not keep the skylight open for long. We have covered about 145 miles of our 330 mile distance. We are more than 1/3 of the way to Tonga. Hopefully, wind and sea conditions are predicted to mellow out tomorrow. We'll see.
We've started listening to John Grisham's Testament. It helps to pass the time as it is pretty difficult to move around the boat or read in these conditions. Looking for calmer seas and lighter winds on Russ's birthday.
All is well on Worrall Wind.
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