2002

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Ocean Planet – Saturday at Sea

March 9, 2002

Ocean Planet at 1637 UTC (8:37am PST):
Position; 15 17N, 97 18W
Course 065 @ 7kts (motoring).
Temp in cabin: 95F(!)
pressure 1011mb
Wind 085 @ 2.5kts
“Wilson” 8-11 PSI.

Ahoy there!

Hot! hot! hot!! The wind has petered out for now so we have been motoring pretty steadily since last evening. With the engine running it is extremely hot inside the boat. Fortunately, Greg has successfully rigged air fans in each quarterberth and at the nav station. At least moving hot air is better than still.

Hank Checking Course

Big winds are now predicted for the Gulf of Tehuantepec, so I have made a heavier reefing strop (broke the old one on the way to San Diego), rigged the staysail stay and will hank on the stysl soon. We have elected to stay close to shore for crossing the gulf, where the winds will be greater (up to 40kts!) but the seas smaller. Another reason for this is that the winds are likely to be easterly south of the gulf and we would like to stay upwind and close to shore in case we need to stop in somewhere for more diesel fuel. I had a feeling the wind we had a couple of days ago was too good to be true…

Crew Reading and Writing

We are having a good time, with the guys doing a lot of reading and storytelling. The best ones I will have to take to my grave….just kidding! Hank has been carefully doing some navigating and research on the options on where we might stop to refuel. Nice to have his 50+ yrs of experience aboard, he questions everything I do which keeps me honest!

Sails Resting

Bruce, Greg, Dave, Hank, and Howard, Ocean Planet