A Banner Day

Day 38
Noon Position: 33 47S 121 04W

Course / Speed: SSE 5

Wind: N 9 – 11

Bar: 1023

Sea: E 5, S 8

Sky: Overcast. Light rain in the morning.
Cabin Temp: 82

Sea Temp: 67
Mile since last noon: 139

Miles of voyage: 4949

Three reasons this is a banner day:

1. We’re flying the twin headsails, which makes Mo look like the world’s largest seabird and makes me happy. 

About 150 miles southwest of the Golden Gate Bridge, Mo went on port tack and has been on port tack under main and working jib ever since. Let me emphasize: 37 days of port tack. 

But wind has shifted into the north today, and so we’ve made the change. Granted, there could be a bit more oomph to the breeze. At 9 – 11 knots astern and both a northwest and a southwest swell, neither sail has quite figured how to hold itself at attention. Roll roll, slap, blam! Which is too bad, because that’s what the main was doing and why, other than the fun of flying the poles, I dropped it.

Twin headsails are a joy to behold and a very practical addition to a yacht that spends so much time, never-mind the previous 37 days, off with the wind. They are extremely powerful; they move the effort forward (where Monte prefers it); they are easy to reef and easy to douse entirely when needed. 
I’ve flown the twins out full in 30 knots of wind in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and felt good ship Mo was under control, if just. Not so when I tried to bring the sails in, lost control of the starboard sheet and and succeeded in wrapping the big genoa, this as I raced by the Coast Guard Station off Port Angeles on my way to a lee shore. 

2. Today I got reasonable sun sights. If I was lost before, today I became found, to within 2.6 miles. 

3. This evening I get to talk to my lovely wife by phone. 

And that last reason is why this is the end. I’ve got to figure out how to use the sat phone…