Today's Report
June 8/11 0800 JST
Position: 22°44'N, 179°02'E
Remaining to Yokohama finish: 2,220 nm / 8.2% (ETA: 26 - 30 days)
That band of easterly tradewinds at 22.0° latitude are tantalizingly close, just another 45 hard-won nautical miles south where the pull of the wind can be expected sweep Saito-san back onto his westward route home. Until then, he'll continue to see puffs of promising breezes, followed by minutes to several hours of virtual windlessness – like when he called in this morning. "Nothing! Completely no wind… I'm back drifting."
He was encouraged earlier in the morning when, he said, "I had good wind, and was doing 3.5 kts for a while before it stopped again." He reported that the seas were flat from horizon to horizon.
Still, he more than doubled his DOG of yesterday at 38 nm, but his mostly southerly track moved him just 14 nm toward Yokohama. (In the image, the purple line indicates the ideal heading to Yokohama, now 2,220 nm away.)
As occurred yesterday, ClearPoint Weather again is predicting he'll get relief from the poor wind conditions later today, when the breeze is expected to rise slightly to 5-6 kts from the more favorable NE & E. This will gradually improve until he reaches the upper edge of the Trades possibly tonight, he estimates, when he expects to encounter steady winds at 10 kts out of the east.
[Click to enlarge]
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Distance in last 24 hours: 38 nm DOG
Total distance completed: 25,642 nm
To Yokohama: 2,220 nm (measured)
Average daily DMG over last 4 days of sailing: 26 nm (measured)
ETA: 28 days (if sailing @ 3.3 kts)
Heading: none, drifting
Reported boat speed: 0 kts
Average boat speed: 1.6 kts
Weather: Overcast; scattered rainshowers; warm
Temperature: 26.5° C
Barometer: 1016 hPa
Wind (from): 0-1 kt, WE
Waves: 0.0 m
Sails: Genoa 80-90%, staysail 0%, mainsail 3pt reef
Engine: 0 hrs
Generator: 8 hrs
[Weather and wind forecasts are from ClearPoint Weather, a Saito 8 contributing sponsor.]
