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## The Distance and What It Required
The approximately 1,500 nautical miles between the site of the Hazana’s capsize and Hilo, Hawaii, was not a fixed distance in terms of practical sailing. The actual track Ashcraft covered was longer — she was not sailing in a straight line; she was tacking and adjusting course to use the wind, working the North Equatorial Current at the right latitude, correcting for the daily drift of her position relative to her intended track.
The specific daily runs she achieved on the jury rig — the distance covered each 24-hour period — were small by comparison to what the Hazana would have been capable of with its full sailing rig. A well-found 44-foot sloop in trade wind conditions can cover 150 to 180 miles per day. A storm jib on a half-spinnaker-pole mast in similar conditions might achieve 50 to 80 miles on a good day, with the North Equatorial Current adding an additional 30 to 50 miles of forward progress.
Over 41 days, an average of roughly 37 miles per day would account for the 1,500-mile passage. This is consistent with a jury rig achieving modest drive, supplemented by the current, over a passage that the specific wind conditions of the northeastern Pacific in October and November would have supported.
The arithmetic is straightforward; the living of it was not. Each of the 41 days required her to maintain the vessel, manage the sails, steer or trim the jury rig, take her noon observation, calculate her position, plot it on the chart, and assess whether her progress was consistent with arrival in Hawaii within a timeframe her food and water would support. Each day’s calculation either confirmed that she was on track or required a revision of the rationing plan.