FROM 2-2. Equator-Dutch Harbor

McQ: Grumpy and ranty, but we’ve crossed the date line!!! Yay!!!

Its pretty rubbish at the moment. I am trying to be grumpy too!!! We are doing between one and 3 knots slewing around between 070 and 100 course, pounding over some waves, slopping over others, despite my continual efforts I just can’t get Kevvo to go straight. One minute we are reaching along next minute sails all flapping and we are about to tack. grrrr. Sometimes you just switch to Kevvo and there we go stonking along and you think ‘Kevvo you amazing’!! but that seems to be in loads of and consistent wind. We don’t have quite enough and the short steep chop just confuses him, I think. Poor Kevvo!!! It would be ok if we could just keep an average speed on and if I could get some idea from the course whats going on wind wise, as to whether we are generally being lifted still or starting to be headed, instead of having to change the instrument display to the digital wind readout, which is accurate but you tend to get fixated on it changing in degree increments (irrelevent out here) or watching the picture of the boat swing about on the pooter and not seeing the bigger picture, which would be blindingly obvious if we were just going in a straight line!!!
Conclusion: phew, needed a wee rant and don’t think its time to tack quite yet!! And wish it would hurry up and get daylight. The cwampet, blurky nights are rubbish!!
It is 1327UTC and we are at 179 59W so we are officially across the date line- all this time travel, making me dizzy!!! woo-hoo!! another milestone!! (Just ignore the fact that we will be tacking back across it shortly!!) Phosphorescence not as incredible tonight- instead of big, long, white streaks trailing out from the side of the boat for as far as the eye can see, we just have a sprinkling of little swirling blobs every time we pound over a wave. Still kinda cool though.
Lots of love
McQueen
xxx

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