Bora Bora to Suwarrow, Cook Islands, Day 3

[hoops name=”break”]Day 3: 3:00 am 7/29

My mom turns 90 today….whoa!!! Happy Birthday Mom!!!!

Welcome to the Pacific Dangerous Middle…..that is what they call this 1500nm stretch from French Polynesia to Fiji and it is living up to it’s reputation. We had expected calming conditions today but got the opposite. This is the area that has the South Pacific Convergence Zone…..a nasty area where HI’s and LO’s mix it up….funky seas and winds!! The SPCZ will be dropping in on us after we get to Suwarrow on Tues/Wed but the forecast is for us to experience some squalls Monday night…..hmmmm….. we already have the squalls so what’s up w/that?????

So another very boring day at sea…..perfect except for the rock and rolling we are doing from the big seas on our stern….in fact the seas were taller than me standing in the cockpit……so no fishing….duh 🙁 ((((

Boat Stuff: Well not for Mystic per se but the DVD player stopped working in my laptop. I was ripping a DVD and it started to scramble the video then it stopped reading…..it’s less than 2 years old….ugh!!!!

We crossed another milestone – over 4,000 engine hours and 28,000 nm…..whoa!!!!

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Stats as of 7/29 7:00am or 1700 UTC:

Position: 14 07S 160 04W

Traveled: 176nm today: 503nm total; 183nm to go; ETA Tuesday 7/30 am

Course: 274M COG

Wind: 20-30G35 kts ESE-E during the day; moderating to 18-26G30 overnight and this am

Waves: 7-12′ SE-E waves short period; seas have a boiling action with waves from SE-E and no consistent wave pattern

Speed: current speed is 7.2 SOG, has varied 6.8 -7.4 kts; avg is 7.1 kts; slight favorable current; 1400 rpm

Weather: 30-50% cloud cover during the day increasing to 70% overnight; some squalls during the early morning then again towards evening and overnight, no convection; sea temp 81.3 deg F

Boat sightings: 1 today, on the horizon, looked like a fishing vessel; 2 total for the trip

Fishing: no fishing today; 1 total

Sail: not up; wind too much dead astern

Fuel burn: 1.80 nmpg @ 1400 rpm (our trip plan is for 1.75 nmpg)

Hope all is well!

John[hoops name=”break”]Mystic Moon