Pounding along
Thursday July 29, 2004
Pounding our way north
N 10o 20’
W 155o 40’
Five days have pasted since departing Kiritimati (Christmas Island) and we are currently making steady, if not smooth, progress towards Hawaii, with 550 nautical miles to go. The winds are strong with choppy seas. When sitting at the helm, it feels like a cross between a mechanical bull and some sort of Suzanne Somers exercise machine. By the time we get to Hawaii, we’ll either have pulverized vertebra or killer abs. The good news is that this pounding along at five knots has gotten Lillian north of the inter tropical convergence zone (ITCZ) so there should be less rain and more steady winds. Best of all, the threat of severe weather seems to have missed us as the weather advisors indicate that the nearest hurricane, Darby, is far to the east. Tonight we should cross the halfway mark, a psychological milestone. After which the passages usually seems to go faster, downhill so to speak. Our anticipated arrival in Hawaii is in about six days.
