Thursday Evening

Thursday, November 3 - 1600 hrs. / Lat: 40 01.473 N, Lon 072 22.632

Partly Cloudy, Wind out of the West at 15 kts. Wave Heights are about 8-10 feet

In about two hours we will pass NYC's middle shipping lane - though we are well offshore. The city is about 75 miles to our northwest. We have altered course and are now heading toward Cape May and the Delaware Bay.


There is a rapidly developing low pressure system coming acros the Carolinas that could produce a wide swath of Gale Force winds across our original tracks (to Beaufort or Norfolk). Heading toward Delaware Bay gives us the alternative to duck into Cape May's harbor for refuge if it the low turns out to be nasty. If so, we will take shelter there for the night and proceed out the folliwng day once the low blows north and east. We don't want to be apporoaching Cape Hatteras with 40 kts blowing from the North and the Gulf Stream's 4 knot current going in the exact opposite direction (that would not be fun).



The only challenge with our present course alternation is that we want to head 250 degrees and that is exactly where the wind is coming from, so we have to use just the main and the motor to be able to point close to our intended track. The waves are pretty good size and make for a lot of rocking, rolling and banging when we drop off a big one into the trough of the next one. Our goal is to be within striking range of Cape May Harbor by tomorrow evening (Friday) when the winds are expected to build significantly. The current forecast for our area calls for the winds to shift to the North late this evening, which would be a big plus for us - we would be able to trun off the engine, make better time and the going would be smoother.



All the crew are doing well and have settled in to the watch schedule (which means getting some good sleep when not on watch). We're eating well and have enough food to get us to Hawaii !  Its breezy, but not too cold for this time of year, and so far we've had no precipitation. If all goes as planned with our progress we will be in cell phone range by tomorrow evening.

- david