Wednesday Midday Tahiti/Hawaii time (Wed 2200 GMT) Cloudy, grey start to the day but sun peeking through quite often and feeling quite warm. Still managing to sail goosewinged 'by the lee', with genoa poled out to starboard, but will probably need to gybe the mainsail and change the pole over, if wind veers more to SSW.
Had a lot of catching up on blog - hadn't noted much down over yesterday, so took a time to prepare it before it could be posted.
Have been downloading a lot of weatherfaxes until now - usual morning batch from Honolulu.
5:40pm Enjoying a mug of tea while waiting for latest N. Pacific Surface Analysis (weatherfax) to finish downloading from Honolulu. Checked in to Pacific Seafarers' Net before that and had a couple of radio contacts at the end - always nice to hear voices, rather than just reading emails!
Quite a lot of light overcast but a large area of blue sky astern. Has been a very pleasant warm afternoon with sun often getting out.
Still seeming to be forever studying weather info - if not weatherfaxes, then grib files... No problem for next two days or so, but still a big question mark over the weekend - the forecast Low and its associated Cold Front is still a big concern for me - looks to be over a big area and expect very strong winds with rain but light conditions probably beforehand.
Makes it very difficult to give an ETA - keep being asked for that - best I can do is still 'hoping to be in by end of month'. Still keeping fingers crossed for decent wind to finish, rather than a repeat of last time's drifting in no wind for three nights over the last 60 miles or so while just outside and then inside the Strait of Juan de Fuca!
6:50pm Amazing - still some light in the W! I've really been noticing the later sunset times as I've been heading N...
8:50pm Quite a lot of clear patches in the night sky - have been reminded to look out for the Perseids - a meteor shower this time of year - moon is bright just now so will look later when not masking any meteorite trails.
11pm Sky totally overcast - moon shining dimly through clouds - no meteor shower to be seen tonight!
Wednesday 5am Hawaii/Tahiti time (Wed 1500 GMT) daylight - grey cloudy sky, heavy rain just easing. Mist/light fog ahead, none close by. Wind has veered slightly more.
7:30am Blue sky appearing as sun gets out nicely between breaks in clouds, after more heavy rain... Making around 6kt in SSW wind of just over 15kt - running dead downwind.
9am Sunshine through gaps in clouds - but a dark grey cloud bank astern - more rain coming very soon...
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While sailing around the world, I'm trying to raise funds to help support the superb life-saving work done by the RNLI (Lifeboats) in Britain each and every day of the year, regardless how bad the weather. In fact, the worse it is, the more likely they are out there, helping someone in distress - whether a swimmer, surfer, small boat or big ship, night or day, summer or winter, and it is a charity - no government funding - so they rely on our help to fund their intensive training and maintain their equipment.
It would be great if you would take a moment to click on the Lifeboats link here (https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/Jeanne-Socrates2), if you'd like to show your support for my efforts at sailing solo, nonstop, unassisted around the globe, trying to set a World Record as the oldest person to do so, by donating something towards the great work the RNLI do every day. If a lot of people put in even a small amount, it all adds up... Thanks a lot! If you can help, it will be very much appreciated. Let's see if we can reach my target!
(I hear that some readers might need to talk to their bank BEFORE trying to make a donation to the RNLI since many US banks routinely block foreign transactions unless
they are notified in advance.)
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1900GMT (= 9 a.m. LT = Tahiti/Hawaii time) - end of Day 315. We made 128 n.ml. DMG, measured in a straight line between the two 1900GMT positions.
Total distance covered from Victoria, B.C., to end of Day 315 (by daily DMGs): 26,309 n.ml.
Distances (are all Gt Circle, at 1900GMT): Cape Flattery LH (Tatoosh Island): 1242 n.ml. to NNE (add ~60 n.ml. to Victoria); Honolulu: 1042 n.ml. to SW; Papeete, Tahiti: 3181 n.ml. to S; San Francisco GG: 1164 n.ml. to ENE.
Position, as posted to www.Winlink.org and www.Shiptrak.org (using my US callsign KC2IOV):
TIME: 2019/08/14 19:00GMT LATITUDE: 35-23.33N LONGITUDE: 146-34.82W
COURSE: 013T SPEED: 6.1kt
WIND_SPEED: 17kt WIND_DIR: SSW SWELL_DIR: SSW SWELL_HT: 2.2m CLOUDS: 90%
BARO: 1020.4hPa TREND: 1 AIR_TEMP: 28.0C SEA_TEMP: 31.0C
COMMENT: Sunshine after heavy overnight rain. More rain coming soon..?