Day 3 – Fair Winds and Dolphins! 10-23-24
We had a great night last night. The wind died a bit and the seas really calmed down. I was able to sleep nearly 6 hours straight. That never happens on passage. Everyone had a restful night.
The nice conditions continued throughout the day, with clear skies and comfortable temperatures. This was one of the nicest days on passage that I have had on this entire trip. Soooo many days have been rough. Its really the sea conditions that impact us the most. The seas out here tend to be more like a washing machine than nice rolling swells. So to get a day with moderate swells coming from a consistent direction was a blessing!
The wind speed also cooperated, dropping from the 20 knot range to the high teens. It does not take much of a drop in wind speed to really impact the comfort onboard. I’ll take 15 knots of wind any day over the constant 20+++ we have been getting out here.
The change in sea and wind conditions also allowed us to change course in a more easterly direction. I had a phone call with our weather router John, and he recommend sailing more easterly toward the equator due to some changing weather conditions in the Northern Pacific. Luckly the better sea and wind conditions allowed us to accommodate this change with little impact on our comfort onboard.
The highlight of our day was DOLPHINS! We were escorted by a pod of about 30 that swam with us for 15 minutes. You could see their little bodies gleaming in the sparkling clear deep blue waters. We all had fun standing on the bow as they swam right below us. 5 of them would break through the water in unison right off our bow. Luke and Mateo really enjoyed it. It is fun watching the enthusiasm in their eyes and voices! Check out our video below:
The dolphin visit was extra special because we just have not seen that many dolphins out here. This was maybe the 5th time in 7 months. On the crossing over we only saw dolphins on our first day, and then none the rest of the way. So this was a real treat!
Luke whipped up another great dinner. Chili with cabbage, cheese and crackers. We all ate together in the cockpit as we watched the sun set. It was a beautiful evening.
For those of you who like stats, we traveled another 165 miles today, for a total of 330 miles in the last 48 hours. This is pretty good given that we have had a consistent current against us of around 1 knot. I don’t expect to sail quite as far over the next couple of days due to the fact that we now have a 1.5 knot current against us, which was expected, and we are sailing much closer to the wind, so our point of sail is not as fast.
The equator is our next bit goal. The shift in our course to the east means it will be another day getting there. We hope to cross sometime late on Friday afternoon. Neptune is getting ready for the ceremony where Luke, Mateo and Dean will go from Polliwogs to Shellbacks!