Total Distance: 993 nm
24 hr Distance: 93 nm
Distance to go: 809 nm
Lat/Long: 09°34.18'N / 99°42.93'W
A short note about the numbers above... The total and 24 hour distances are actual nautical miles (similar to statute miles) travelled over the ground. This is not the "Distance Made Good" or DMG, which is the distance travelled as the crow flies. Most people would use DMG...but I'm not. WHY? Well...mostly because the GPS gives us distance travelled, so it is a no-brainer, plus, the greater distance has some satisfaction associated with it! :o) John calculates and records the DMG on our paper chart, so we have both numbers. It is interesting to compare. Especially in recent days where we've done a lot of drifting!! The distance to go, on the other hand, is the actual straight line distance from our position to our final destination of San Christobal Island, in the Galapagos Archipelago (I know it is the furthest away - but it is where we need to check into the country)! The LAT/LONG position is our position at noon on the given day.
Now...about today. Well, it is our friend Michael's 40th birthday!! Hurray!! Wish we could be there to share a cocktail with you!!
And it was a great day for us out here. Late last night, the wind picked up, and we had a fabulous sail all night and all day today. We were even able to sail on an easterly course, putting us closer to our intended course. For the last few days, we were drifting further and further west, and it looked like we'd have trouble getting upwind to the Galapagos!! And of course, since our moods are directly correlated to wind conditions, we were both pleased as punch to be out here sailing. Don Anderson (SSB/HAM radio weather guru) tells us that there is a full gale of 35+ knots blowing in the Tuanaepecs (sp?), so I can assume that is what we are feeling here. It is supposed to die down tomorrow, but we'll gladly take it while it lasts. The good news is that our grib files are showing that the wind will fill in next week, and the ITCZ looks to be shrinking in width...so we hopefully have reserved enough fuel for the crossing.
But the best part of the day, is that it is HALF WAY DAY!!! Finally, after 12 days, we are halfway! GAWD. We never expected such a slow passage. But we celebrated. New sheets on the bed!! Wohoo...I don't think I need to tell you how uuber-gross the bed gets with two salty bodies hot bunking in the heat of the tropics. (Get your minds out of the gutter - 'hot bunking' is when two people alternate use of the same bed...as one person gets out, another gets in). We did have to be judicious about who gets to sleep in the new sheets first!! :O) Thanks to 'Narama' for the critical advice that we definitely needed to have a second set of sheets on board. We also got to eat our HALF WAY treat of Reese's peanut butter cups!
