Position Update 10/2

As Glenn mentioned earlier, there is a large low pressure system moving into the area tonight and tomorrow. Fortunately, according to the latest GRIB file forecast, we may have made enough south in the last few days of drifting that we could see just the fringes of wind from that system. Maybe. This is weather forecasting in the Pacific Northwest which is very difficult, and the predictions change rapidly. But, if the latest forecast is correct, the low will be moving north of us, and bringing us strong winds from the south and west. This is ideal for us because those winds will push us in exactly the direction we want to go. Of course, we don't want to go too fast initially because we don't actually want to catch up with this system.

So, for now, we are just flying the stays'l which is one of our two smallest sails. The stays'l is situated on the foredeck so it is much easier to take down quickly than the storm jib which flies from the tip of the bow sprit. In big seas, the bow sprit is a very wet roller coaster of a ride which is fun at an amusement park.. not so much out here.

For a long time tonight, we just drifted further south in calm seas with less than 5 knots of wind - the proverbial calm before the storm. The winds have now shifted and are blowing out of the south at just under 20 knots, and slowly strengthening. We are making way very comfortably toward Cape Flattery at just under 4 knots.

Our current data:
Date/Time: 10/2 0300 PDT
Position: 41D 49.5N, 128D 52.5W
COG/SOG: 020T @ 2.9 kts
Wind: S 15-20 kts
Seas: ? 1-3 ft
Sky: Dark (no moon), 50% Cloud coverage