100 miles from Honolulu

Tuesday Aug 3, 2004

N 19o 44.5’

W 157o 40’

We continued to pound our way north over the weekend. Sailing close haul into the wind, Lillian would either power her way though the waves or rise out of the water, like a whale, and then fall back into the sea with a resounding 15 ton thud. Sleeping in the forward bunk under these conditions is virtually impossible. When Lillian becomes airborne, so does whoever is occupying the forward cabin, followed by a cushioned landing on the mattress. While entertaining on some level, the motion combined with the noise are not exactly conducive to napping. The middle cabin, near to the boat’s center of gravity, becomes the better sleeping spot.

On Monday, after several days of such leaps and bounds, the winds and seas suddenly abated, setting the stage for a spectacular day of smooth sailing, with the main sail and both foresails fully deployed. Since then however, the winds have continued to calm down and even change direction, so we are now back to a slow wallow towards our destination. Originally that destination was the big island of Hawaii, but the winds now make Oahu a more logical choice. With a little help from either the winds or the Westerbeke, we should be there before sunset tomorrow.

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