Sunday, November 20, 2011

11/20/11

Noon Position: 10 57.5' N, 116 57.2' W, SOG 5.7, COG 185, days run
121nm. I realized this afternoon that I'm beginning to be affected a
bit by the lack of social contact - I spent an hour on the phone with my
mother on Thursday, then another half hour today with both my parents
plus another half hour with Shanley. Found myself talking at length
about anything and everything, even repeating myself between
conversations. In some ways I feel like I'm cheating myself by
maintaining satellite phone contact - it certainly is a different having
friends and family only a phone call away - certainly more "real" than
email or this blog. With the written word, I can pretend as if I'm
writing a letter that will only get posted when I reach land, and my bi-
or tri-weekly email download certainly helps to enforce that sensation.
On the other hand, I'm not sure how those on shore would tolerate me
should I not call them - other than the obvious call to the Coast Guard
when I missed a sched. Anyway, yesterday was a frustrating day - a very
fast night, surfing up to 10 kts at times - I think we had a bit of
current with us. Then, yesterday, spent most of the day drifting in
circles except for a few brief moments of sailing on the edges of
squalls. Did manage to collect a good 1/2 gallon of water to use for
cleaning though and get in a good shower and shave with all the rain.
When the breeze finally filled back in again, it was light, and from the
E to SE - which is nice with the light air, going upwind helps build
apparent wind speed so we can keep moving through the swell. It's been
slow ever since. I think today we've got a bit of a counter current,
setting us to the North and a bit West - our SOG is hovering around
5kts, frequently below, and our speed through the water is certainly
faster than that.

6 comments:

  1. I love being able to follow your progress and you certainly make your entries interesting and colorful. Wishing you nothing but good things every day along your journey.

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  2. Eric,
    Such courage! Love reading about your adventure. Thanks for sharing with all of us. Sandy Gilman

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  3. I'm excited -- I posted your latitude/longitude on worldatlas.com and it pinpointed your position! Now we can really see you! Fair winds, my friend.

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  5. From plotting your latest position, and comparing with where NOAA Hurricane Center says cat 2 Hurricane Kenneth is 11-21-11 at 7 p.m. PST (13N, 111.8W), looks like you are just missing it, skittering to southwest of it. Hope so! Stay safe, Eric! We are all thinking of you! (Saw a typo in my post & thought I could edit, but couldn't, so I removed and reposted....)

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