Thursday 10 July (Mk 2): Rolling Along
Where Next?
Bob Williams
Fri 11 Jul 2014 02:42
Course: East. Speed: 4 knots
Wind: West nor' west, F3-4 gentle to moderate breeze
Sea: moderate. Swell: north west 2 m
Weather: mostly cloudy, cool
Days run: 127 nm
Overnight the wind has been shifting between north of west and south of west which has required two gybes in order to stay roughly on track. The direct route to Sweepers Cove is somewhat to the north of our present track but I intend to remain close to the island chain so that if the wind goes contrary or abandons us we will hopefully not be too far from an anchorage.
I was hoping that on the Bering Sea side of the Aleutians that the swell would be less, but this has not proven to be the case, with about two meters building up since leaving Attu Island, and now this morning with the wind easing we are rolling and the mainsail is slatting badly. I think we will take a little detour between Amchitka and Semisopochnoi Islands to see if we can find some small relief from it, though, on second thoughts, it is just as likely that we will encounter confused seas from the strong currents that are reported to run between the islands. Some days!
Last night we shifted into Western hemisphere time, even though we are still shy of 180 degrees, so we are having a second Thursday.
All is well.