Day 23 – May 9, 2013 – 5PM Pacific Time

Day 23 – May 9, 2013 – 5PM Pacific Time
Current Location: 02 47.85′ S, 130 07.48′ W
Heading 235 T, Speed 6.0 knots
Sail: Poled, reefed Genoa & double reefed main
Temperature: Indoor 85F, Outdoor 79 F
+/- 2,000 Miles from Puerto Vallarta, 660 Miles to the Marquesas

It’s getting crowded!

This morning we had an AIS (Automatic Identification System – big ships are required to broadcast who they are, where they are, and where they’re headed) target off about 14 miles – we’ve had those every few days or so. At the same time, Fran went on deck to look around and HEARD a boat – looked up and there it was – quite close. Some kind of Asian (Chinese? Korean?) freighter. Oddly, that ship wasn’t broadcasting AIS, though they appear to be of a size that’s required to by International Maritime law. They appeared to have altered course to come over and take a look at us. That’s the first time we’ve seen a boat since the ITCZ when we say Covenant V, another sailboat headed in our direction.

Lovely

This morning we poled out the Genoa and are now “wing and wing” – which means that we have one sail off each side of the boat. Usually this is a very slow sail plan for RED, but today he’s stayed in the 6 – 7 knots range – a fast day by recent standards.
The ocean is an incredible blue, the sky, lighter blue with some pretty clouds. We keep hoping for some rain to wash our decks, but haven’t seen any in a long while.