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June 13, 1999

Hawaii to Tarawa Voyage, Update #42

Day 41. Sunday 13 June 1999 0255 GMT
Wind E 3-4. Heading 220M.
Latitude: 07deg 08.333N
Longitude: 176deg 30.618W

I'm starting to see more pronounced effects of the contradiction between current (heading back east) and wind (heading west) to be expected in the ITCZ: short, choppy waves with less predictability and distance between them than the big ocean rollers. Each time a brief squall comes sweeping in the wind and waves rise to meet it, making things quite interesting for a while, then everything drops back to its usual slow, sleepy pace in which the sun takes the leading roll and I find myself fighting to keep awake.

According to my calculations we are just shy of 2/3rds of the way, which means if the progress continues like it has, we could be making landfall in Tarawa in three weeks (original estimate 65-70 days). The main unknown at this time is how easy it will be to punch through the south side of the ITCZ - whether the current runs north from the southern edge like it seems to be running south from the northern edge (I should know the answer to this within the next 6 days). Then once we're south of 4 degrees north we should under the influence of the southern equatorial current (running west) and the southeast trades which will gently assist in cranking out the remaining few hundred miles to this far flung island of dreams.

Jason Lewis,
The Moksha motor

Posted on June 13, 1999 4:32 AM