This ITCZ is fickle. We thought we had a great setup for crossing; but as we are coming to understand, things change in the zone.
Where we want to be is just north of where we are. And that sweet spot is moving away. We have wind out of due South. But we simply can not sail north in that. We don't have fuel to just motor for endless hours. The fuel is to use, but it's also good not to use it all, too early.
So in a nut shell, we don't love our available choices. Easr OR West?
We chose to gybe to the west. The course that at least is closest to heading toward Hawaii.
We have a current which seems to actually be pushing us a little north. So that's good... we will run this for a while, (6-8 hours?) and then probably gybe back over in the opposite direction depending on what kind of weather we are experiencing and seeing on the weather models.
As we were setting up for this bit of sailing, we changed sails, (to run the new jib!) then noticed more batten pocket flap repairs were required.
So we did that for a while. Then finally we're ready to bring the main back up.
Meanwhile, some other things got a little funky with some lines, and we had an episode with one of the engines. Alao, our working heading caused a lot of motion and some stuff fell & spilled around the cabin and cockpit... Things got a little hectic!
But 3 educated, clever, capable, teammembers overcame this set of obstacles, with plenty of cursing (Ok, that was mostly just me), diligent effort, clever ideas, careful execution and a few jokes.
We missed dinner, but are staying hydrated, and everyone needs a nap, (which is what 2 out of 3 sailors are doing.)
This is one heck of an adventure.
Love hard, pray harder
(Maybe that's it?)
Love and light
Fair winds,
~e.
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