Yesterday was Doldrums Revisited, little or no wind, shifty, rain from time
to time. I even had a brief little northwesterly which contradicted the
grib file precisely. In gathering wx data, I take the grib files, quikscat
plus a host of static wxfax files, north atlantic surface analysis, 48 hour
forecast analysis, 96 hour surface analysis, plus a 48 hour wind/wave
forecast. Out of all this yesterday, there seemed a glimmer of hope that if
I could get to the north, or actually NNW, and cross a challenging area
between the abutting ends of two high pressure ridges, where there was
likely no wind, and do it in time, I might catch the tail of the cold front
of the huge low to the north. But crossing these types of zones is more up
to get luck and getting wind, than any skill. Anyway, off we went, the
routing program agreed with the logic, and we'll see how it turns out. It's
good to have a goal that you might actually be able to accomplish. The
stars last night were spectacular, took your breath away how sharp and
clear they were. And today, in the rainshowers, several full, end -to end
rainbows, brilliant spectra of color.
Rich Wilson