Current position as of 0000 UTC July 16th is 35° 58’ N 153° 19’ W Current Heading: 05°M Total distance made good (DMG) = 999 nm DMG last 24hrs (0000UTC-0000UTC) = 65 nm Engine hours = 0 Avg true wind speed (TWS) = 16.5 kts Avg speed over the ground (SOG) = 2.5 kts Avg swells = 4.5 ft Recap of Day 11 The past few days have been tough going here on Varuna with strong headwinds and not much releif in sight. Beating to weather is always rough on the crew and rough on the boat, as we are constantly crashing into waves, making the whole boat shudder. After trying many different adjustments to the sail plan and heading, we decided to try to sail as close to the wind as possible, keeping the wind about 40° off the bow. This, combined with very little sail area (just the staysail and a double reefed main) slowed us considerably, but allowed us to make a bit of headway in a decent direction. The slower speed was actually really what we were after, because it meant that we mostly stopped launching off the top of one wave and crashing into the next. Instead we sailed with a slow hobby horsing motion, only crashing into the waves when there was a particularly large one. In the morning, Ty spotted our very first boat that we have seen since leaving Hawaii on the horizon, a cargo ship bound for Asia. I made a batch of my Dad’s delicious biscuits and we had bacon, egg and cheese biscuit sandwiches breakfast. This was followed by a yummy, simple, grilled Mahi and rice lunch. In the afternoon, I rolled out and grilled the pit bread dough that Ty had managed to get together the day before. It had been in the fridge overnight fermenting and developing flavor, and turned out to be our best batch yet, puffing up and making great pockets when I grilled it! For dinner, we stuffed these with more grilled Mahi, a cabbage slaw and tomatoes, which really hit the spot! Thanks so much for all your positive comments. All the best from us! Hillary & Ty
