April 7

At around 10pm we rolled up the genoa as we wanted to get more downwind and the genoa would not cooperate - it flogged more then 120 degrees off the wind .Of course, this is no surprise, but it was windy enough that we didn't really need the headsail, and with just main and mizzen heading downwind at about 140 degrees off the wind on a heading of about 245M we managed 5.5-6.5k over ground and a relatively easy motion. The seas were sloppy all night with big swells over 10 feet. This sail combination seems effective to us as there is about 13k wind and at times we hit bursts of 7.5k.

By 10am this morning the winds had become light and variable from the NNW and we decided to kill two birds with one stone and motorsail for an hour or two (the two purposes being to charge batteries and provide a couple of hours smooth sailing in the direction we want to go.

When we gybed around we found the True wind direction more Easterly then we thought giving hints of the NE Trade winds ahead, but alas, it was a passing breeze caused by a local shower band. Latest reports put the Eastern edge of the trades at about 120W longitude and we are still at 114W. But a gradual change from NW to N to NNE to NE is predicted and we have already seen a shift from NW to N.

At noon we are currently motorsailing on a course of 200M making 5.5 - 6k over the ground and running the engine at 1500rpms. The seas are lumpy with 8-10 ft swells and the skies are completely overcast with light showers occasionally.

By night we were running before the wind again with main and mizzen alone - this allows us to get more downwind then even with a poled out jib.. when the wind is up. The night was spent making about 6.5-7k on a course of 245M over ground, a bit more west then we need, not enough South.