All is well. We are resting and relaxing from all the preparations. No more trips to the store. No more worrying about what we would forget. No more running around trying to get things ready. Life in San Diego is as wrapped up as it can be.
Sure we have all the worries of being aboard a small boat heading farther and farther from civilization, but it is an amazing feeling finally making it out here. It is bliss when the boat is running smoothly and the weather is favorable, and right now it is bliss. The sea and mechanical systems aboard have given us an inviting start so far.
We are 140 miles from San Diego to the Southwest. We plan to make only very subtle course changes to make it to Nuka Hiva. It is a “straight” line. Here is our position on April 29th, 2007 at 2140 UTC: 30-33.58N 118-27.53W. Our speed is 5.6 knots running at about 1450 rpm on course 194 magnetic. We plan to speed up a bit once we get out a little farther. A note on indicating time: The blog records time in Universal Coordinated Time (UTC), also known as Greenwich Meridian Time (GMT) or Zulu time. It tends to be easier to report in UTC time. Local time is 1440 or 2:40pm.
We have about 5 foot seas rolling under us from our forward starboard side, aka mostly “beam” seas. The wave period is about 9-10 seconds. It is overcast and with only about 5 knots of wind from the 20 degrees to the starboard.
The radar is set to scan 8 miles out and we have seen nothing for the last 12 hours. It is quiet out here.
We are doing 4 hour watch schedules. Eric 0200-0600, Christi 0600-1000, Richard at 1000-1400, and then it repeats. So we get a nice 8 hours off between watch. We will see how this goes. Eric was a bit queasy, but he is feeling better now.
When all is said, it is nice boring update. 🙂