Day 15 Light Winds

The winds have been light out of the east, making sailing pretty slow. Gone are the blistering 6+ knots of speed. We are usually running between 4 and 5 knots. Having calmer seas is a nice break from getting tossed and slammed. I have mixed feelings about it because I like the solid strong winds because you can just trim the boat and hold on. The lighter winds are usually more work and I'm paranoid that they'll die.

Nonetheless, we've been making steady progress, but due to the wind angle we've been creaping northward. The forecast shows that the wind might build more out of the north, which would allow us to reach faster and head a bit back south for a good approach into Hilo. We'll just have to wait and see. So far NOAA's forecasts have been accurate.

I do wish we could stop somewhere and hike around or do some walking. Sitting/living in a small boat for long periods of time turns your legs into toothpicks. There's a solo woman sailor going around the world non-stop. I believe she's from the North West and she checks into the Pacific Seafarer's net every night. I have to wonder what it must be like for her, day after day, alone on her boat for months. She just passed under Australia and is working her way east. That's got to be a long and lonely trip.

{GMST}20|00.5|N|133|20.6|W|Day 16|Light E winds{GEND}