The Honolulu branch of the National Weather Service says it best:

.SYNOPSIS…FRESH TO STRONG TRADE WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH PRESSURE NORTH OF THE OFFSHORE WATERS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEK.

.”Fresh to Strong” translates as 20 to 30 knots, which is pretty much exactly what we are seeing.

We are settled into a routine for the stronger winds. The boat is set up to ride them comfortably, and we are on a fast course straight to the Kaiwi Channel east of Oahu. We are now closer to Hawaii than San Diego, and moving faster, so we should be more than half way by time.

This afternoon was a study in blue. Of course out here there isn’t much in the way of other colors, but the variety of blue can be breathtaking. It was sunny and bright, the waves big, but more awesome than scary. There was the deep rich blue of the sunlit ocean, the darker gray-blue of the ocean shaded by a cloud, the infinite variety of light blues in the sky, and the very light blue of the clouds. I know, you are going to argue that clouds are white, but that word has to be saved for the patches of foam on top of the waves. When it comes to “white” they put the clouds to shame!