Position: 45 degrees, 29 minutes north; 151 degrees, 31 minutes west 127 nm day (motoring since 0230)

This is literally the corner of the Pacific High. The wind shifted, baro dropped and it got colder, all within a couple hours. You can see the clear definition of the clouds as well.

So...we had to commemorate it with a selfie!

Ah, the elusive, fabled Pacific High. What is it? A wind pattern that forms off the North American Continent that blocks a streamline passage from the tropics to the mainland. Like the gold of El Dorado you hear stories of it, but have you seen it? I learned the “speak” and was able to tell people about our route from Hawaii up over the Pacific High. It was just parroting on my part because I could not define it. It was the elephant in the middle of the North Pacific blocking our way. It created “analysis paralysis” as the crews of Orcinius and Charisma watched the gribs and windty.com to see where it was and how we would attack it. At that time, before our departure it was not forming into the round void of no air that we sailors had heard of. It was broken into several smaller sections that would each be an issue during passage…and so we waited.

This moving target that the Pacific High creates makes it hard to determine how long our passage will be. This last leg to North America…it should be easier to define but it is not. The plan is to sail due north from Hawaii (hear my “speak”) until you find the north west edge of the high and let it sling shot you around to the west and the North American continent. Guess what? I think we found that corner at about 2:30 am. The winds finally died and it was time to turn on the engine to go through “the corner” and get on the north side where the westerly winds are.

So what is the Pacific High. I can tell you a few things it means. Since there is no wind in the center, it is motoring, not sailing which means less heeling over and I can now walk to the bathroom without hanging on for dear life. It is ships! Lots of them. 7 in the first 24 hours. We are crossing shipping lanes from Asia and Japan. It is cloud cover. 100%. Except for the very edge where the sunset sneaks in at the last moment with a spectacular green flash. This afternoon the clouds lifted for a few hours and it was a cauldron of clouds surrounding beautiful blue water (perhaps the swirling winds on the outside of the High created this). It is jellyfish exploding in light bubbles as we go through the night water. It is three small black birds twittering at me into the wee hours of the morning. It is whales …but Bob can share that story!

Most importantly the Pacific High, where we are…is the turn to the continent! No longer are we headed to Alaska. We are better than half way done! Turning points are important and easy to identify. From New Zealand it was when the winds separated us from the southern lows and headed us north to French Polynesia. As we passaged to Hawaii from Tahiti it was the ITCZ…an area of the Pacific we knew but had scary memories of.

Yes, we have found the fabled Pacific High and we are heading over the top! The weather is cooler, the continent is ahead of us!