Day 8 – 1 Week at Sea and Over 1,000 Miles Sailed

Today we passed two big milestones. One, It’s been 7 days since we left Nuku Hiva. Yes, I know we are on day 8, but the first day should have been called Day 0 since we had not sailed 24 hours at that point. Two, managed to cross the 1,000 nautical mile marker, and at 4 pm today, exactly 168 hours since we left, we had sailed 1,041 miles. This put our average daily miles sailed just under 150 miles. A 6.25 knot average. That is a bit slow for us, but we have had a constant current against us from 1 knot to as much as 3 knots. Our log tracks miles sailed through the water, and that was 1,230 miles, so nearly 200 miles more than the miles sailed over the Earth. Basically, the current made us sail more through the water miles while slowing our over the Earth miles. The through the water speed was 7.3 knots. Geez, so complicated!

Sailing out here is proving to be crazy making. Yesterday the seas calmed down again, but very early this morning it was back to crisscrossed speedbump sailing again causing the boat to slam and bounce around on all the waves. Mateo, who is nearly always in a good mood, said he woke up angry from all the bouncing. It really wears you down to have to hold on while sleeping or walking anywhere on the boat. Plus, the slamming noise on the hull as it crashes over the waves. It makes you flat out worry about the boat. We are all over it. BUT, the good news is everything settled back down later this afternoon, and it was smooth sailing again. SOOO GRATEFUL! Right now, as I type this, it’s like we are on a smooth lake, barely bouncing as the boat slices through the water at 8+ knots.

We have so many variables we have to manage and monitor as we sail across this big ocean, things like the speed of the wind, the direction of the wind, the size and direction of the waves and the speed and direction of the currents. All these variables can change daily, so twice each day I download weather software that let’s me see what is forecasted for wind, waves, and currents. And forecasted does not mean its what will actually happen, but at least it gives me some sense of control!

When we left Nuku Hiva we had to sail 3,000 miles in a north easterly direction to make landfall in Newport Beach. The challenge with this is we cannot go directly northeast, because in the northern hemisphere, where we are currently sailing, the prevailing Tradewinds blow from the northeast, and we can’t go straight into the wind.

So, the strategy is, while we were in the southern hemisphere, where the Tradewinds blow from the east or southeast, we try to get as east as possible so when we cross into the northeast Tradewinds they are more to our side than straight at us. But how can we go east when the wind in the southern hemisphere is blowing easterly? We can’t. So, we sailed north initially, waiting for the wind to go southeast so we could turn the boat more easterly. And so far that has worked because the winds have been southeast or even directly from the south the last 3 days, allowing us to go almost directly east.

This was working great until today when we ran into a 4+ not current pushing us to the west. All the effort we have made to try and get east is getting evaporated by this current sending us back west to were we came from. Ya, it’s a bit frustrating. The good news is, this current is supposed to clock around and start pushing us north, and then back to the east. The current makes a giant circle. You can see this in the photo below.

This is the current we are in. The boat is where the green pin is dropped on the left.

Meanwhile, Mateo is no longer angry as the boat has stopped bouncing, and morale onboard is excellent. We have a great team onboard, and everyone gets along and makes each other laugh. So overall, feeling good!