It’s Day 16 on the leg from Seattle to Panama as Linda’s Team ClipperTelemed+ and LMAX lead the fleet through the Doldrums as they continue south off the west coast of Mexico.

Only 1100 miles and 10-12 days to Panama, with ETA May 25-27. 

Here’s an update from Linda:

May 10: Exciting couple of days. Today we hoisted the repaired code 1 spinnaker (nick named code jane) in 5-15 knot winds. Ready just in time. Code 1 has been a lifesaver.

May 11: We have been playing leap frog with Unicef most of the day. In the 10pm-2am watch, I shared the concept of “up in the lulls, down in the puffs” with my watch mates. Enjoyed seeing that work.

Next was explaining how wind shifts affect one’s perception of being ahead or behind the boat near you. Put your hands side by then parallel. If you get a shift that causes the boat to head towards the right then you have a starboard lift. Using center of palm to rotate and starting with fingertips even, rotate your hands. Your right finger tips should be ahead of the left now.

I helmed an hour this morning and wondered if my Aggie friend Drake might be helming on Unicef. Yes, we did pull away and continued to do so. We saw our 1st pacific whale last night and dolphins this am.

Have not seen the flying squid the other watch claims to have seen but now seeing birds and flying fish. 

What does it mean when all the birds land on water and congregate?