Passage to Honolulu, continued - Day 9

Wednesday 20 June 2012
Lat: 01°33.23'N  Long: 144°17.29'W  200 - 250 NM south of measurable wind
1430 NM from Honolulu
Motoring, heading 350T at 5.0 kts   Cabin Temperature: 92 deg F  Humidity:  62%

Yesterday afternoon we finally crossed the equator (under power of course) and celebrated with a bottle of sparkling cider (as Veuve Cliquot was in short supply).

With any luck, we should be at the halfway point and into the NE trade winds the day after tomorrow.  The second half of the trip will go a lot faster than the first half and we can go back to using the windvane for steering.  It would be an understatement to say we are all tired of hand steering.

We've been closely monitoring fuel consumption and now estimate that we will be ok.  We seem to be doing a lot better than I thought we would.

Water remains a concern.  We started out with less than we should have, and the passage is going slower than planned, so we're trying our best to conserve.  A little rain would really help.

Anyone following my postings closely may have observed that, in spite of my statement to the contrary, the cabin temperature has been steadily climbing.  And this is true.  Fortunately, nighttime temperatures are bucking this trend and I actually felt a bit cold during the midnight watch.

Days and nights have been very clear and we've yet to even see a rain squall.

In the fishing department, we tried to fool the fish by disguising the lure with a piece of garbage bag, but the fish were on to our ways and continued to avoid the lure like a teenager avoiding their parents.