Day 1002 [July 1/11 JST] – Slower Still


Today's Report
July 1/11 0800 JST 

Position:  25°32'N, 147°15'E
Remaining to Yokohama:  808 nm (ETA: ? days)
Remaining to Ogasawara:  325 nm (ETA: 6-9 days)


A massive high pressure system has moved into the area, pinching off winds, ushering in scattered pockets of passing squalls, and reducing NBSDIII's progress to just 30 nm since yesterday.

The reassuring news is that no heavy weather is presently shown, and the marine weather service has no warnings or alerts other than mentioning unsettled weather well to the west of today's position. Lighting strikes could be seen on ClearPoint 45 nm from NBSDIII's morning position.

The reduced winds were expected to continue through at least tomorrow, which promises to draw out the Ogasawara ETA by at least 2 additional days and delaying Saito-san's arrival until sometime next week.  As of this morning he had 325 nm remaining to reach port, a cold beer, and a good soak in the island's famed hot springs.

He took advantage of the quiet conditions to sleep several hours during the night as the boat drifted under furled headsails.

At the time of his call, winds were blowing out of the E & SE at 6 – 8 kts, for a reduced boat speed of 2.0 kts. The sky was generally overcast with broken clouds. Sea swells were about 1.0 m, and moving with the current out of the east.


***
Distance in last 24 hours: 31 nm DOG / 30 nm DMG
Total distance completed: 27,701 nm
To Yokohama: 808 nm (measured)
To Ogasawara: 325 nm (measured)

Average daily DMG over last 4 days of sailing: 65 nm (measured) 
ETA, Ogasawara: 6-9 days
ETA, Yokohama: ? days

Heading: 250°
Reported boat speed: 2.0 kts
Average boat speed: 1.3 kts
Weather: Overcast, warm, squalls in the area
Temperature: 29.0° C
Barometer: 1012 hPa 
Wind (from): 5-6 kts E & SE
Waves: 1.0 m
Sails: Genoa 90%, staysail 0%, mainsail 3pt reef
Engine: 0 hrs
Generator: 0 hrs

[Weather and wind forecasts are from ClearPoint Weather, a Saito 8 Supporting Sponsor.]