95 miles to the equator. We thought that we’d escaped the doldrums yesterday, but that was not the case. On the weather maps you could see the pressure gradient chasing us south and ovetaking us again. 13 sail changes in 15 hours last night and this morning. It was beyond fatiguing trying to keep up with the squalls and light air spots, to keep the boat moving in the right direction. It was also very painful for my back and rib, but I can’t stop for that. That huge black cloud up there? Will we intersect it? If yes, we better take a reef right now… if not, well then we’ll risk being wrong and have to take the reef during the tumult. Have done that several times.

It’s so hard to know for sure whether my sail choices — my decisions — are going to be the right choices. Sometimes I put a reef in, and then the squall cloud goes by without any wind at all; other times I may not put in a reef and then the wind that comes is more than we can handle. Very difficult to get it right all the time.

The good news is that I did get a snooze or two. The computer started acting up yesterday. I should have known it would happen, because it’s too hot here in the cabin for it, particularly when charging the batteries with the engine. So I turned off the computer, network, monitor and inverter, to cool them down. Then I didn’t fire them up again until late last night, and then only for an hour or so. It will be a little less convenient to have to turn on the computer every time I want to use it, but that choice will hopefully save the computer–and save some amperes and power on the boat, too.

I’ve been flying flags today: Jackson School and Scott Hamilton’s prayer flags from the base of Everest. They all look good aboard ship.

Hoping to get to the southern hemisphere soon.