Wind: 18–26 knots
Swell: 4 meters
Boat Speed: 7 ± knots
Weather: Overcast
Sails: Main with two reefs, jib with two reefs
24-hour Distance: 130 miles
One Ocean has been racing along under full sail since 2 a.m. this morning in some pretty strong conditions, with the wind on our beam or on a close reach. We’ve seen wind from about 12 knots up to 30 knots.
It’s been a day of constant sail changes. We started with all the sails up, then reefed the mizzen, the main, and the jib. Not long after, we dropped the mizzen completely and put a second reef in both the main and the jib. Even then, we were still ripping along at 8 knots.
It’s late, and I’m on my 2200 watch, finally getting around to writing this. As I type, we’re sailing at about 7 knots with the wind hovering around 22 knots. We are flying toward home—One Ocean is like a horse to water. We’re closing the distance to Victoria, with under 300 nautical miles to go.
It has been a bouncy day aboard OO, making life uncomfortable for everyone. Just climbing into bed is a challenge, let alone trying to cook or walk around. As Tess put it, it’s making her excited to be on solid land.
The wind, however, has been welcomed by all. We needed it. Our fuel reserves have done remarkably well during this crossing, but we’re having to watch them carefully now.
After several days of almost no wind and very calm conditions, we all had a lot of time to think. It’s starting to really sink in that we’re nearing home.
We had a productive day nonetheless and dropped our final microSWIFT buoy—#160—dedicated to the Skallywags at Skagit Valley College’s Marine Technology Center in Anacortes, Washington, where One Ocean underwent all of her refits before this expedition. Without this incredible partnership and the many volunteers who gave their time and expertise, we would never have been able to launch when we did. Thank you to everyone at the center. It’s a special place, and we’re looking forward to hauling One Ocean out and spending some time back at MTC. The buoy drop can be watched on our YouTube channel. And you can watch the data that this buoy will collect for the next five weeks on our website - www.oneislandoneocean
With the conditions we have right now, it’s difficult to write much on the computer. It doesn’t take long before I start getting a headache. Seasickness is real, I fortunately don’t suffer too much from it, but when you’re trying to work from a phone or laptop in these kinds of seas, I can recognize the signs of when I need to stop.
So I’ll keep this one short. It’s pretty lively out here, and the sky has turned very dark. We’ve had overcast weather all day, so there are no stars or moon tonight, but the evening light lingered until after 2200, and that was a welcome sight.
We’ve also started seeing unmistakable signs of the Pacific Northwest—bull kelp drifting past, deadheads, gray skies and the most welcoming pod of dolphins!
We’re excited to see you all very soon. With that - I wish you all sweet dreams and good night.
Jenn