Upwind, we continue ...

Day 5 aboard Bullet continues our upwind beat north! Not much change in our day-to-day routine, though the beat is quite tiring. Some of the simplest tasks (such as getting dressed) seem to take an inordinate amount of energy when inside a our constantly pitching, yawing, rolling home -- certainly nothing new for experience ocean sailors, but definitely new for us.

Squall activity continues to diminish as we push into the higher latitudes, though last night gave us some very "sporty" winds. One particular combination of wind and waves almost knocked the diesel cans loose on the port side, but Anthony saved them with some quick thinking and knot tying in the middle of the night. As the pic shows, Mike and Scott were still smiling through the worst of it!

At about 9 pm PST last night we had visual and radio contact with another boat -- S/V Longboard. We did not recognize them from the PacCup fleet, but was fun to be within 2 nm of another boat in such a big ocean -- though not sure their origin/destination. Also last night was the first PacCup return radio check-in, an informal and voluntary nightly event conducted over the Single Side Band radio. It allows us to share our positions and any observations that could be of use to the other boats.

This morning we pulled up some new weather data and ran it through our navigation software. The route suggested that we make a slight left turn to the North, which will give us a smoother ride and better boat speed, but also put us in a better position for our planned turned west in a few days. As of now, the route suggests we turn East North East and begin motor sailing around Friday evening near 34 48' North (Latitude) 149 50' West (Longitude). (If you want to hear more about what we systems/software we use, please put in a comment -- we can "nerd out" for you and devote an entire blog post).

Until next time!

-TBC