August 8, 1315
Today…. We are sailing. I woke up at 4:30 this am and the watch crew said "wind seems up… we were thinking of rolling out some jib". I looked at the winds and the angles…. Brought out the A2. We have had it up since and the wind has filled in. We are currently rolling along in the mid 8s over ground with almost every mile sailed a mile made good to Duntze rock with 954 to go. Hopefully today we start putting a ton of miles in the bag. Time will tell. For now we are enjoying the winds and the sun.
During yesterday's swim, I noticed that there were some goose neck barnacles on the trailing edge of the prop shaft stuffing box. It is surprising that these were there and the size they were in the short time since our departure, as the boat was clean when we left. But interesting to see how quickly they grow and where they secure themselves to.
August 9, 0900
Last night, I came on deck at 11 and we quickly decided that white sails were not working for us. Up went the A4 and off we went. We spent the night sailing in increasing winds at 8-13kts on the gps. I personally did not get much sleep as I took at least a third of the driving during the really challenging parts, but everyone did a great job. I was joking with the group that it is strange that 9kts in the middle of the night is starting to feel normal. From 6pm until 6 am we had 93 miles made good, which included the white sail time around dinner through till 11 pm.
August 9th, 1500
Otto (the autopilot) steered the boat from 9 am through till 12:30 at a steady 7.5-8.5 kts mostly on course (it was set to a wind angle), while the crew tidied the boat and sat around in the cockpit chatting and eating lunch (there will be video of parts of this posted on your YouTube Channel "Turnagain50" once we get back to real internet). Lunch consisted of a plate of cold cuts, fresh hummus, cheese and some pineapple-pork sausages with crackers and chips.
So we continue to tick off miles towards Dunzte rock, which is our mark at the entrance to Juan De Fuca, with about 755 to go as of now. The afternoon watch had a great sleep through the morning and felt energized after lunch, and have been hand steering since 1230, while the am watch is sleeping and I am switching between napping and general boat chores (making water, checking all lower easily accessible rigging etc, writing this).
The temperature is changing. I have been in pants all day today (the first time since about day 2 of the race), and the ocean is down to 20C….. brrrr…. There is also much more humidity in the air. The boat is dripping with condensation (outside so far) by the am, and there was a marine layer across the entire horizon this am. I am anticipating true fog shortly as we approach the Fogust west coast of the Island. I hold out hope that some real August weather will still be had once I get back so I can enjoy some family boating while the kids are still out of school.
Until later,
Turnagain
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