A Leap North
May 15, 2019
Day 222
Noon Position: 26 49N 59 39W
Course(t)/Speed(kts): NxE 7 – 8
Wind(t/tws): SxW 16 – 20
Sea(t/ft): S 8+
Sky: Overcast, squalls with rain
10ths Cloud Cover: 10
Bar(mb): 1019+, falling slowly
Cabin Temp(f): 81
Water Temp(f): 78
Relative Humidity(%): 69
Sail: Twins poled out. One reef in both.
Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good (nm): 144
Miles since departure: 29,836
Avg. Miles/Day: 134
Leg North Miles: 6,908
Leg North Days: 56
Avg. Miles/Day: 123
Wind built overnight, and by morning Mo was in full froth, churning out seven and eight knots under twin headsails. Heavy, ominous cloud with pounding rain. Winds peaked at twenty knots, but seas stood right up, producing the occasional creaming breaker down which Mo happily surfed.
We’ve entered the lower limb of a long trough of brisk south and southwest winds that, as of this moment, would take us all the way to St John’s if they held. But they will not. We may get another 24 hours of this, so I’m grabbing as much northing as I can while the going is good, even though we are being pulled back to the east.
Soon enough we will again be in the company of the light and variables, but by then my hope is to have achieved 30N or above. We won’t have topped the high at that point, but we’ll be within spitting distance, and, as of now, it looks like the high may be only one or two degrees of latitude wide. I’ll ford that lack of stream under engine if need be.
Miles to St John’s: 1,400 (rhumb line; actual may be much more).
Pleasant to be on the move again. There has been so little wind in memory that when it came time to reef this morning, I had to think it through. 
Good to hear you are on the move as brief as it may be. Enjoy the lack of sleep. What decisions do you make when you reef sails, boat speed, load on the sails?
Yeah! and Yippee, Romping along again!!! Funny how you think the wind will never come back when in a calm!! But it always does!! So glad you are romping along again, and good ole MO has the bone in her teeth!!!
My goodness, Randall, it feels like yup have travelled so far in just a blink of time. I just went through hospice and the passing of my mother so ai have fallen well behind on your posts but you were somewhere in the tropics Suoth of the equator when I last signed onto your blog and how you’re up in the mid 20 latitudes! A whole different world! Time is a funny thing – whe you’re in it, it can seem long and drawn out, but as soon as it’s in the last, it’s like the wink of an eye. Aloha, Mary
So sorry, lots of typos on my on screen keyboard. The last sentence could be confusing “but as soon as it’s in the past” is how it was supposed to read.
Very interesting weather patterns. Watching how they impact you and your/Mo’s response. North you must go!!