During the 10PM-2AM watch last night we saw the highest sustained winds of the trip- 16 knots as we rounded Cape Mendocino. Ryan said that last week someone he know saw 60 knots, and 40 knots are predicted for 2 days from now. Apparently our timing for this portion is pretty good weather wise. Cape Mendocino can be nasty at times.
It was absolutely beautiful to shut off the engine and let the northern breeze push us through the water with our dual head sails flying. We made good speed, around 7.5 knots, which is faster than we were going with the engine on. We silently slid up and down the wave faces in the pure blackness and had an awesome display of shooting stars. Delos felt solid and steady like she was on rails. This only lasted for a few hours and by the 6AM crew change we were back to motoring.
We’re monitoring our fuel consumption closely since we’ve been motoring so much. As of this morning we still had 200 liters (about 54 gallons) remaining after motoring for 4 days. We carry 600 liters in a full tank with another 40 in reserve jerry cans. This is enough for another 2 days if necessary (not including or reserves). This trip has been great for figuring out our range under power.
The GPS shows our latitude at 38’N. Seattle is pretty close to 48’N so we’ve traveled a full 10 degrees South closer towards the equator, which lies another 2300 or so miles away.
Right now we’re close to the Farallon Islands Marine Sanctuary about 21 miles off the coast and 75 miles from the Golden Gate. It’s cold and gray. The monotony of motoring day after day without wind is getting old. This crew wants to sail! The prospect of sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge and exploring San Francisco is raising spirits though.
We expect to cross under the bridge and into the San Francisco Bay around 6AM Thursday morning, nearly 5 days to the mark from leaving Seattle.