1700 EDT – 22’30″N – 63’40” W. The squall line is now 12 miles off our bow. It stretches for about 70 miles across the radar screen. The sky is overcast, and it has gotten quite muggy this afternoon. The two big reachers are furled, and we are motorsailing towards the center of the squall line. There is probably not more than 25 knots of wind, but with this wide a squall area you never know what’s going to happen.

In the meantime, we’re listening to boats reporting into Herb Hilgenberg on the SSB, noting their positions and conditions. Looks like 30 knots from the NE is the norm once we get N of the frontal line. Forearmed with this data, we are going to sag off to the east as the wind clocks around, to gain some ground to windward, so we have more of a reaching angle (faster and more comfortable!).