The past days were very variable. The winds near the equator are rather weak and change a lot. On the other hand the high sun radiation creates a lot of thermal activity, cloud formation and potentially squalls. Those cannot only shift the wind direction drastically but produce strong gusts.

To spot those squalls in due time we use the radar especially during the night. While the radar is not capable to show us the wind, but the pulses get reflected off the rain that usually comes with them. The stronger the rain the stronger the reflection. Weaker reflections are shown as blue on the screen, with medium reflections shown in yellow and strong reflections in red.

While most of the night were relatively quiet, we had a huge cloud above us two nights ago. When we came on deck for our watch, the red area on the radar screen covered almost the entire screen with a eight nautical mile radius. And the cloud stayed on top of us for more than four hours with heavy rain for the entire time. While this cool down was welcome on deck we had to close all the hatches below to prevent water from flowing down into the cabin. This impeded the ventilation and caused a very hot and humid atmosphere below.

We have crossed the equator and are on a north-westerly course towards the northern tip of the Philippines. Meanwhile we have not only passed the halfway point for this race but also for the entire circumnavigation. An important milestone which will be celebrated adequately in Subic Bay. But this is still a week out and we are in a good position close to the boats ahead. Thus, we try to sail fast and hopefully make up a few places until there.