Hula, 13:12
Hey,. I was going 7 knots an hour ago, and now I can row my El Toro faster than this!

Green Buffalo, 13:17
Had that tortellini last night… with red sauce… half a package made two meals worth (so tortellini again tonight).

Wind finally went aft late last night so put the chute up this morning.  Only 10k of wind so cannot drive as low as I would like – to get under the dropping high – but c’est la vie.  Sailing to Hawaii is always a struggle to drive the boat low without going to slow (or accidentally gybing).

Suspect another day or day to be south enough to turn west and aim at the finish.  Though the weather looks light “most of the way”… 10k-12k of wind… so going to be a “long one” (Mary will get to Hanalei a day or two before I do).

The broken vang bracket was despite all I tried to stabilize it was just not good enough… especially thinking about heavy air squalls later in the race.  So after thinking, planning, thinking, napping and gathering all the needed tools and hardware, went forward this morning and removed the solid vang.  Took the blocks, plus a few extras I had on the boat, plus a few shackles and loups, and reinstalled them – so now I have a “regular” vang (12:1 purchase instead of the sold vangs 24:1 purchase). A rare job I didn’t have to go back and forth to finish up.

Took a good long time to flake the Jib Top… such a big sail so a lot of back and forth from point to midship.  Now I need to flake the code zero (ripped) and the hard one – the #1.  Not sure I can get the #1 out the forehatch as It was a bit “big” when I stuffed it away (was that two days ago?).  Maybe tomorrow I tackle flaking the #1 tight.

Heard Robb on Nozomi talk to Siren on VHF last night… but I couldn’t hear Siren and they couldn’t hear me.  So they are “in the neighborhood” but not close.  Late last night Reed from Mountain rang and we talked for just a minute (signal strength was a bit week)… but it was real nice talking to someone after 4+ days alone.

Broke into the boys half way cache for my candy fix… the boys know well about my Walgreen’s candy aisle “habit”.
Cherry licorice… mmm mmm good!

Cheers,
Jim
Green Buffalo

Aloha, 13:19
im alive! now if only the wind had as much energy as lunch just gave me….
cheers,
Kyle

Mountain, 02:40
Greetings from Mountain, where the ship smells of feet and the Captain wishes he smelled half that good.
All is well here – Mountain and I are working hard.  According to the  latest fleet position reports though, so is everyone else! Really fun race so far- just hitting my stride.  Taking naps, tweaking the sails, making repairs, enjoying the view.
Many thanks to all who helped with our prep the last few days leading up to the start.
Hi Grady!

Shark On Bluegrass, 12:02
All well, smooth sailing 12 kn, beam reach, sunshine …

Northern Star, 12:04
All good aboard Northern Star. Jamie alive and healthy.

Green Buffalo, 13:52
First… took me over an hour to send email via Iridium GO! yesterday.  Something was “amiss” with the Iridium satellite network.  After a lot of patience and retries it all went through.  Maybe less satellite coverage over the ocean… or maybe older slower satellites over the ocean?  Just guessing.

Things that go bang in the night.
Wind was in the 20k’s – peak 29k – most of the night reaching along under jibtop.  “Bang!”  That didn’t sound good but nothing obvious.  An hour later “bang” again.  hmmm

When the sun rose… the boom vang bracket to the mast had broen two of its four “wings/tabs”.  Unreliable butt welds… sign.
A few spanish windlasses with spectra and looks “good enough” – but time will tell.  Broke these same welds in the 2018 PacCup.  Time to talk to the fabricator (Robb of Nozomi told me so back in 2018).

Four days and still nor running under chute… unusual.  Due to the High being so far south have not yet made it to its southeast quarter where the wind swings (and I swing west).  Tonight or tomorrow for sure “kite up”.

The sun peaked out today and then went away… 4 days overcast… getting old.
It is getting warmer… after 4 days in the same long johns, today was a “wipey” shower below deck – and a fresh pair of long johns… boy does that feel good!  Boy did I stink! Maybe tomorrow or more likely the day after a real fresh water shower in the cockpit?

Sardine sandwich for lunch. Thinking tortellini with red sauce for dinner.

Cheers,
Jim
Green Buffalo

Hula, 14:18
No spinnaker, no 7 knots, and alas, no more bird companion. For two days we shared music, stories, and hemp seeds..

Perplexity, 15:36
I was having some email issues but was also sending the go track message everyday. Anyway, things are going well out here. I haven’t received competitor updates in a few days but I’ve never looked at them and don’t think I will. I am just going to sail my race. I have a mast sail track issue at the moment, but checking with the company. I’m hoping it’s not a problem and I’ll be able to shake the reef out soon.

Still cloudy and cld at night but its warming up!