HokuleaHōkūle'a Worldwide Voyage

We hope that we have cleared the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) as we have had strong northeasterly winds all day.  But, as our friend and weather advisor, Hans Rosendal, told us today, “Your fresh North East winds this morning may mean that you are through the worst of it.  However, these stronger trade winds may just be temporary. We cannot tell for sure. The ITCZ fluctuates, at times very strongly, moving South for a while and then North … or redeveloping in a new area altogether.  In any event, there is a break in the activity to your North.  So, perhaps you somehow got through the ITCZ?”

So far, so good. Today, we made 91 nautical miles between 6 am and 6 pm on the exact heading we were trying to hold, so we had a great day. Hoping for more of the same tonight, tomorrow and the next few days into Hilo.  Everyone and everything wet but well and happy.

Caught a mahimahi, the first one on this sail from Tahiti to Hawai‘i.

• course: west of north, heading 346 degrees True, Haka Ho’olua
• speed: 7 to 8 knots
• weather: Almost complete cumulus overcast (7/8 coverage).  A few clear patches.  Some wind-torn, mackarel mid-level clouds.  Every kind of mid- and high-level clouds stacking up – very interesting stuff, this ITCZ!  Rain showers throughout the day, sometimes very hard.  Raining extremely hard right now.
• wind: northeast  25 knots
• sea state: East 6 to 8 feet predominant, northeast 4 to 5 feet, southeast 4 to 5 feet.  Wind waves and chop.

Hawaiian Star Compass (Click on the link for an explanation of the names of the directional houses of the compass. Click on the compass for a larger image.)