Stiorm Update

We are now taking the brunt of this storm, being pummeled by gale force winds (Force 8). Surprisingly, and fortunately, the seas are not yet very big. So our current tactic is to run before the storm using the stays'l only. We are making over six knots to the northeast. This is why we wanted to gain so much sea room off the Oregon coast. We can now use any of the standard storm tactics - running, heaving-to, lying ahull, deploying a sea anchor - without fear of running ashore. From the Grib files, it looks like we will have quite a few hours of strong south to southwest winds, so we will keep running for now - they are taking us right where we want to go.

Things are still comfy inside, with the exception that we are taking in water occasionally through the skylight. When a wave breaks over the cabin sometimes it sneaks under the upside down dinghy that is covering the skylight, and comes through into the cabin, dousing the off-watch person sleeping on the settee below. It's on my to-do list to seal them better, but I haven't gotten to it yet - that particular list is always very long. But otherwise things are good inside: warm and dry.

Anyway, I just wanted everyone to know that we are fine, and finally making progress north again.

Update: I didn't get this posted in time, and now things are changing. The winds and seas are increasing, so for the near future, we will be running under bare poles - no sails up. This is the tactic we used years ago leaving the Pacific Northwest, and maybe it's fitting that we use it coming back.