Day 18 - SLOW and steady

May 25th today...and not much to report. Days are all melding together, not
much to differentiate one day from the next. Caught our third mahi mahi.
Still no tuna, although we think this is prime tuna fishing grounds. We saw
our second ship.

We haven't had to turn on the motor in a couple days, but we haven't been
making good time. The wind has been circling from all directions, and we are
often fiddling with sails to keep moving in the right direction. Yesterday,
we made 100 miles, but only 70 towards Sitka. Our worst yet. We completed
our first 1000 miles in 9 days. This second thousand is looking like it will
take 12 days.

One reason is we aren't able to point very high into the wind these last
couple of days. We dropped our genoa to investigate what we thought was a
few loose stitches. Unfortunately, the damage was more extensive, with many
critical seams at the leech and clew completely failing. What a drag. We
even had it reinforced in Majuro in preparation for the trip. Oh well. Just
too much rotten thread after all this time in the sun. So we've hoisted our
old genoa that has been sitting in the laz for three years. We laughed when
we dragged it out. It is filthy. And paper thin. We ripped it almost top to
tail when we first had the boat and I did an insane patch job, with all the
sail tape that I could buy on the island! It looks like a jigsaw puzzle. So
we're handling it with care, gently nudging it along, and hoping it will
last a few more weeks.

If need be, we could repair the newer genoa, but I'd much rather have it
stitched with a proper machine (mine doesn't have a zig zag stitch). So
we'll wait and see. I could repair it by hand, but the sail is huge, not
sure how we'd manage it inside, or in the cockpit, and it would take several
days with both of us working at it!

Noon Report:
Position: 34-30N, 178-17W
2191 nm to Sitka, Alaska
1908 travelled so far
Ave spd 4.7 knots
23 hr DOG: 99nm
23 hr DMG: 67 nm

(23 hrs, because we just moved the clocks forward, ship's time is now
-11UTC).

Daily position reports:
http://www.pangolin.co.nz/yotreps/tracker.php?ident=V73TN

Day 16 - Brrr

In two days, the temps have dropped ten degrees. On Tuesday, I was wearing a
bikini. Today, I'm bundled in fleece and trying to remember where we stashed
the mittens. 18 degrees may not sound cold to you, but, it feels arctic to
us. We had expected cold, but I hadn't thought it would hit so soon...we're
only at 31 degrees north - same latitude as San Diego.

The last two days have also brought us wind! Mostly from the NW (hence the
cool air), giving us a push in the right direction. It is a bit squally and
we're forever making sail adjustments, but we're pleased with our progress.

The boat has been great. We snapped one Monitor (self-steering) line, but it
was fixed instantly. We found a pile of my clothes had been soaked from a
port hole not closed. Meh. We've just noticed our headsail leech is looking
ragged, so we'll be looking for n opportunity to bring it down to the deck
for inspection and possibly repair.

Today, we'll cross the dateline again...we look forward to our return to the
western hemisphere.



Daily position reports:
http://www.pangolin.co.nz/yotreps/tracker.php?ident=V73TN

Day 15 - Ship Ahoy

Saw our first ship out here! First, the AIS let us know it was 10 miles
away. I was able to see it when it was6 miles off, and it finally passed
about 1.5 miles to out stern. It was a huge fuel carrier. Nice to have some
company out here, and a reminder that we're likely getting closer to common
shipping routes.