215, SOG 5.5kn, Wind 8kn NE, 30C, 1009mBar, sunny.
It's going better than I had hoped for. The forecast was for 7-12kn of wind,
shifting SE to NE. And that's exactly what we have so far. Predominantly SE
winds, except for the afternoons when it's NE. So we're mostly sailing
close-hauled at 30 to 60 degrees apparent wind angle at 4 to 7kn of speed.
That can be uncomfortable, but the see is so calm that we even have the
hatch open at the front most of the time, and the wind is so light that the
boat hardly heels.
Yesterday a 6pm, just before sunset, I made out sails on the horizon west of
us, at 258 degrees. As usually I got very excited and ran for the camera,
but the sailboat was over the horizon and so I only captured the top half of
it's sails. Then I lost it in the background of clouds. Half an hour later,
after sunset, I saw it's navigation light just over the horizon. This time
at 265 degrees, falling behind. One boat is sailing, two boats and it's a
race
.The night was quiet, no squalls. Liz and I are doing watches in our usual
shifts. Liz in the morning and evening, me in the afternoon and the night.
At the other times we're sleeping, reading, or talking about what it will be
like in NZ.
312nm to go
