Hula Girl Update

28°N, 144°W

Life on board Hula Girl is at an all time high today. The crew awoke, some sailing, amid partly cloudy but beautiful blue skies this morning with the sun on the horizon. This was a great way to launch us into the second half of our journey.

As the morning progressed we sailed in variable winds of 9 to 14 knots with a very pleasant sea state. After a few gybes, we settled in for a long sail on starboard. For the first time since the start of the race we saw racing boats other than our own. The first was very far off in the distance and only hung in our sights for about an hour. Following the first sighting we saw another boat sailing at us on port. We crossed well in front of them and watched them gybe right behind us.

From the roll call this morning we figured out that this boat was a Sabre 42, so not in our class. We slowly extended away from them and watched them disappear over the horizon. With the warm tradewinds developing off our stern and the sun blazing, the crew was able to freshen up. Showers on the stern scoop for all brought new life and a fresher smell to the boat. With the wind forecasted to increase tonight, 16 to 18 knots, we spent the afternoon resting and preparing for some serious sailing. The boat is now quite clean and with our work completed a few crew tackled the music problem. After about an hour of tinkering with the stereo, the speakers finally started to put out some music and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

We spent the late afternoon and early evening leading up to dinner sailing right into the sunset with the easy listening of Bob Marley and Jack Johnson lightening the mood. To top off the day we sailed up behind another competitor and were within shouting distance. A Benateau 41.1 with their spinnaker up heading for the same destination, this gave us a chance to snap some pictures and have a nice chat on the radio. It was great to hear how their race was going and ended with a friendly request to save them some Mai Tais when we get there.

With good weather, good tunes and some even better company, we will sail through the night in hopes of another great day tomorrow.

Cheers,
Morgan Gutenkunst