Day 14 (Pray for hull speed)

Back to light air. The highest paid navigators in the fleet just sailed by 75 miles to the north of us, the wiliest old salts in the fleet are steaming to Hawaii 100 miles to the south of us, and we are surrounded by a disc of beautiful picnic weather.

Yesterday was LBD: Last Beer Day. We are now a dry boat.

We have storm sails, 3 bilge pumps, a liferaft, 3 radios, locater beacons, harnesses, tethers, strobe lights, an extra spinnaker pole,
materials to start IVs, splint broken bones, repair booms, rudders, and ripped sails. Except, besides one 25kt squall per night, you’d think it never blew above 11 knots anywhere in the pacific. We are not in the dreaded pacific high, just in a random corner of the ocean where a 30′ boat can only go about the speed that Bill Clinton jogs.

Luckily we have enough spare food and water (especially water) that we are not in any trouble. Garth made the last of the “planned” meals last night: Spaghetti with canned clams. Now it’s leftovers and extras until we break out the freeze-dried emergency rations later in the week.

-JE

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