July 27, 2026
Wind: 4 knots
Swell: 0.5 m
Boat Speed: 6 ± knots
Weather: Blue skies
Sails: Main up, motor sailing
24 hour distance: 135 miles
We’re in the blue according to our Windy app, which means no wind. Our decision to head east has paid off. We have been motoring through most of this, watching our diesel carefully. But it was amazing to see how the sky cleared and we found ourselves surrounded by a vast patch of open blue in this high pressure system. As evening approached the wind picked up and a string of squalls appeared allowing us to sail in 12–14-knot winds for a couple of hours. It was exceptional. Smooth seas, beautiful sailing, a rainbow, and the setting sun. We hadn’t enjoyed such a relaxing sail since…well, none of us can remember! It happened around dinner time as I made Hungarian mushroom soup. We ate in near silence taking a moment to soak in the majestic beauty of the Pacific while gliding under sail.
It was also a day of counting garbage and learning to use the sextant. The sextant lesson was far more enjoyable than witnessing the amount of trash floating by. It was shocking—easily the worst we have seen on our entire journey. We are now within the general ‘boundary’ of the North Pacific Garbage Gyre - and it is disturbing!
Our ‘less than scientific’ anecdotal garbage survey used crew observations counting foreign objects 200’ either side of the boat (400’ swath) motoring at 6 knots for one hour which yielded visual spotting of over 420 pieces of garbage - mostly small plastic items which included 2 plastic net buoys, 6 larger plastic bottles and a variety of flat plastic/styrofoam pieces.
The sun set, and so did the wind. With only 4 knots of breeze, we decided to continue under power.
Hurricane Fausto remains a hurricane though current forecasts show it tracking north of Hawaii before weakening into a tropical storm. Hurricane Genevieve has strengthened into a Category 5 hurricane, but it is expected to fizzle out in the middle of the Pacific. We will be well north of its track.
Our countdown to home has now been added to our website. It's still tentative, as the weather and One Ocean always have the final say. But our course is set, and now we wait for the wind to fill in.
