Crossing the North Pacific in the Clipper Round the World Race 2005-2006 Part 3 by Guest Author Brian Luster

(Brian Luster is a fellow nautical blogger and author of the excellent blog A Movable Bridge. Brian took part in the big Asian leg of the 2005-2006 Clipper Race. The current race is taking place right now and the crews are in Asia as I write this --Adam) (Day 6) How things change: 32 14.9N 134 8.7E, off the coast of Japan It’s amazing the changes we’ve experienced in the past 24 hours. Two nights ago we were storming down the East China Sea with a spinnaker flying, making something like 14 knots. Early yesterday morning we jibed around the corner of Japan into the North Pacific Ocean. It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day. The foul-weather gear came off; shorts and T-shirts went on. Then the wind came around on the nose, and we were beating into a nice stiff breeze. By the time I went to bed after dinner, it was really blowing. Three hours later I came on watch to a nearly dead calm, spinnaker flopping limply. Off watch at 3:00 a.m., then back on at 6:00 to a complete calm—boat speed 0 knots. It stayed like that for the next three hours. We’re now beating into the wind, making 6.2 knots. I worked through most of my four-hour off watch (when I should have been asleep) repairing the staysail that tore in half on day two; in one hour I have to be on deck for my four-hour watch. Tomorrow, things are getting rougher