Last night we had the most wind we have yet seen on Sila, with gusts into the mid-forty knot range, which Beaufort classifies as a strong gale. With three reefs in the mainsail and just a little bit of the staysail rolled out, Sila sailed through the squalls beautifully. There is no doubt that this boat is tougher than her crew, as I was on watch and felt more stress than Sila showed.
In contrast, tonight (Saturday night) is a beautiful starry night. It has been fun getting to know the southern sky just a bit. I can now easily pick out the Southern Cross and Scorpius with its long tail. Pavo (the peacock) and Grus (the crane) are a little more difficult to identify but they are usually visible on my watch. Porter got up tonight and spent about an hour in the cockpit with me on watch. (I do the midnight to 4 am shift each night.) We were able to see Orion the hunter to the east of us. It is such a familiar constellation to us that it is very comforting to see the familiar belt of stars across the sky. And tonight, we are sailing straight toward Orion, like a beacon.
Clearly my favorite star is Zuben Elgenubi- the star after which my black lab, Zuby, was named. I first identified the star, located in the western sky between Scorpius and Libra, when we were on anchor in Hotu Iti at Rapa Nui. It was right overhead and it felt like Zuby was watching over us at that tenuous anchorage. Unfortunately, by the time I come on watch at midnight on this passage, Zuben Elgenubi has set below the horizon.
Christopher has noted on several occasions that he cannot get used to the location of the sun. As it is winter in the Southern Hemisphere, the sun is tracking relatively low across the sky. As we sail east, the sun is on the port side of the boat- the north side. To us northerners, it feels like either the sun should be on the starboard side or like we are sailing west. Either way, it feels like it is in the wrong place in the sky. I wonder if we will ever get used to it.
With 1700 miles yet to go on this passage, all is well. - Molly
STATS/INFO:
TIME&DATE: 0600 local (2400z) SUN AUG 17 2014
FIX: 27º35.5'S 99º05.6'W
SOG&COG: 6.1 knots, ±76ºM (91ºT) - headed for 27º30'S 92W
WIND (True): 336ºT F5
WAVES: 2-3 m swell + wind waves, still a bit confused
PRECIP: Nominal in squalls
CLOUDS: Clear evening but now 80% cloudy just before sunrise
PRMSL: 1007.2mb (steady or on the way back up now)
24HR RUN: (06-06 local, 12-12 utc): 148nm, mean speed of 6.2kn last 24 hours
TO GO: 1,736nm to Puerto Montt, @ 145nm/day ± 12 days to go
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