North, north, further north. Leaving Hawaii for the mainland means sailing over the top of the Pacific High, a large windless area that sets up in the central Pacific during the summer. To get to the high, the ideal course is north with a little bit of east.
Madrone is a big, heavy cruising boat, not a race boat, so she has been having trouble making progress to eastward. The wind is from the east or northeast, and the resulting waves are from the same direction. Those two forces conspire to push the bow away from the wind, so we end up going north (or sometimes even a bit towards Russia).
But we are making steady progress and the sailing is good. The rougher, squally conditions moderated overnight, and we enjoyed a smooth sail under a 3/4 moon and the entire galaxy of stars.
Day three: 138nm
Position: 29 14’N 159 14’W
