I woke up at 0400! The boat didn't feel right. Wind shift! I was off course, heading south, which is better than being off course and heading east or north. In addition to being off course, the wind had increased into the 15 to 20 knot range.

As it was pitch black I got behind the helm, got back on course and set the autopilot. It was too dark to mess with the Hydrovane and it takes time after adjusting the heading on the Hydrovane for it to bring the boat around to the desired setting.

The wind although higher than it had been, was hitting the boat at between 90 and 110 degrees so my apparent wind was down a few knots per hour.

I decided to stay up and monitor the conditions in case the wind built to above twenty knots. So I made coffee and settled in to watching and waiting.

Thank you Coffee gods!

At 0700 the wind was sitting between 1

Eighteen and twenty knots. Time for a reef in the main. Being a half hour before sunrise, the skies were getting light which helped when watching the main coming down as well as where the reef line was.

Reefiing complete, I turned my attention to setting the Hydrovane and turning off the autopilot.

Success on all fronts! 😁

Time for breakfast and a second cup ☕!

It's 1000 hours and the wind has dropped a bit. Time to shake out the reef and pick up a knot or so in speed.