Pacific Crossing, Part III — Riding the Waves

The swells are up around 3 to 4 meters at times. This little boat of ours is a pro at riding those waves. Even when they come at us sideways she just gets up on top of the wave and surfs down the other side.

For the swells to be so big, it means the wind is also blowing quite strong. We have had steady 12 to 15 knot winds with gusts up to 17 knots. This has given us a record day for distance clocking in 186 miles in 24 hours. We reduced our sails to make it a little more comfortable, otherwise we would be keeling at a constant 10 to 15 degrees. And it wouldn't give us much more speed even with all the sails out. To explain, our waterline speed is 9 knots and the last few days we have been traveling at an average of 8 knots, so even with all the sails out, we wouldn't improve our speed by much.

We are now into our second week at sea. The novelty of the night shift is wearing out, but at the same time, a certain routine is setting in. Despite that, I still struggle with the change of habit. I tip my hat off to those professionals working shifts. Heck, anyone that has to be up late or get up in the wee hours of the night to go to work has my respect. I don't know how they do it.