Hikianalia Report: October 21, 6:03 AM HST: surfing on following seas, heading NNE toward Tahiti

Following seas giving us surfing speeds of 13 to 16 knots. Steering is a bit more involved right now, because we have three swells pushing us along, but the wa’a finds her balance point like all good surfers.  The steersmen are much more capable now that we are at this point of the voyage, so we are all finding our balance points. [Distance from Tahiti: 686 nautical miles.]

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Sail Data

• time:  2012-10-21 16:03 UTC/GMT (06:03 HST Oct 21)
• position: 28 degrees 32.6 minutes S 152 degrees 54.0 minutes W
• course: 025 degrees True
• speed: average 9.0 knots
• weather: 95 percent cloud cover with mid-level sheet and low-level cumulus; air is dry and cool
• wind: SSE 20-25 knots
• sea state: moderate, with a following sea: SW swell (10-15 feet), with a SSE swell of 6-8 feet, and a S swell of 6-8 feet
• vessel and crew condition:  all ok (Faafaite also)

Education Data

• Celestial Observations, Navigation Stars, Planets and Moon Phases:  During the 6 pm to 10 pm watch, we steered by the wind and with the sails.   Again, due to complete overcast, there were no stars to steer by and only occasional glimpses of the moon through the cloud cover. The same was true for the 10 pm to 2 am watch. During the 2 am to 6 am watch, some stars came through, like Orion, Jupiter and Sirius, but not for long periods.
• Animal Life: None noted.
• Sea Birds and Sea Life: None observed.
• Marine Debris: None observed overnight.