Onward to Dutch Harbor

September 18, 2019

Days at Sea: 287
Days Since Departure: 353

Noon Position: 59 45N  168 97W
Course(t)/Speed(kts): SxE 7
Wind(t/tws): NE 18
Sea(t/ft): NE 10+
Sky/10ths Cover: Mostly clear; post-low cumulus astern. 3
Bar(mb): 997
On-deck Temp(f): ?
Cabin Temp(f): 57
Water Temp(f): 52
Relative Humidity(%): 68
Magnetic Variation: 8.1

Sail: All three sails flying. Wind on port quarter

Noon-to-Noon Miles Made Good (nm): 152
Miles since departure: 36,494

The barometer got as low as 991, but by 4am wind velocities hadn’t changed in hours and neither had the seas, which only rarely threw over Mo their loving embrace and were each time rebuffed with grace and charm. Having satisfied myself I’d seen what the low had to offer and that Mo could take care of herself, I finally went to bed.

Nights are growing longer, a full 12 hours at last count, and day feels slow to break. By 6am, the horizon is just hinting of light and sunup isn’t until around 9am. Aside from hourly status checks, I stayed in my bunk until full light.

Wind has been slow to diminish today, but slowly diminish it has. Now it is early evening and we’re in a lumpy calm and back on the engine. Must keep pushing the for miles.

The near-term goal is Dutch Harbor, 650nm from Nome and still 300nm further on as I type. And we’re on a schedule: arrival is planned prior to the next hefty low that will swing through the Aleutians on Saturday. We don’t have much time to spare.

From Dutch, we’ll launch for the final homeward leg, which looks to be a boisterous run of about 2,400 miles. The Gulf of Alaska is a chaos of strong and rapid systems, and to be frank, at the moment, I’m not sure how to slice it.

The post Onward to Dutch Harbor appeared first on Sailfeed.